Depp/Burton DARK SHADOWS Is In Release!!

[Mysterious Benefactor]

I didn't check out the MSN thing when people mentioned it before because I wasn't in the mood to get aggravated - but I did check it out this time. Wow! About all I can do is 

The really interesting thing when it comes to DS is that the vast majority of the comments totally disagree with the writer's opinions. One comment even suggests that the writer may just be too young to grasp how popular DS was and still is - and given how young a lot of these people writing for the Internet are, that's probably a fair assessment. Though youth is no excuse to say that the DS film "came and went from theaters so fast you'd think someone staked it through the heart" when that is so clearly not the case. But then, as I've said many times already, the people writing stuff like that wrote off DS long ago and have not paid attention since. They're living in their fantasy of how the film supposedly did rather than actually giving notice to how the film has really been doing. And sadly with them, films like The Tourist and DS probably have a lot of company when it comes to films that they've prematurely written off. Though what could be fascinating would be if someone was to confront the writer with the fact that a film that supposedly "came and went from theaters so fast" actually just made $1,652,140 in its 11th week in release. But then again, it would probably be a wasted effort because, if the writer doesn't care enough about what he writes to pay attention to how films are actually doing in theaters, he probably doesn't pay attention to the comments that disagree with him (particularly when they muddle the situation with little things like facts) because it's so much easier for him to live his fantasy.

And when it comes to the list in general, not that WB probably even gives a hoot what MSN writes, but it's interesting that WB has four of the supposedly worst films: Rock of Ages, The Lucky One, Joyful Noise, and DS. It's also interesting that Chloe Moretz starred in two of the supposedly worst: Hick and DS - and that Seth Grahame-Smith wrote two of the supposedly worst: Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter and DS. But what's most interesting is that the worst list also includes The Lorax, which is one of the most successful and one of the top critics' best reviewed films this year. But then, when it comes to the latter at least, the writer is probably trying to prove he stands apart from what audiences and top critics like. Good luck with that.

78 days 11 hours 24 minutes 40 seconds since the Depp/Burton Dark Shadows has been in release(ET)!!

[David]

Jeez, what a jerk that writer is--no fact checking at all, which youth does not excuse!

[David]

BTW, when the late TV Guide writer Cleveland Amory called DS "the worst show in history", he was writing about The Haunting of Collinwood, a creative high point in the series.
No matter what Dan, Sam and Gordon, did, people trashed it because "it's just a soap", never mind how ambitious and groundbreaking it was to do a soap like that, or the pockets of brilliance it had.

[Gerard]

And don't forget, that in that same review scathing the original television DS, Cleveland Amory also said, after a week of watching it, he "missed it."  There's a lot to read into that comment.  He panned it (as most soaps, if not all soaps, were panned back then), but he obviously enjoyed it.  For him, it was undoubedly a guilty pleasure (and I wonder if he did go back to watching it, while never admitting it). 

It was like my mom, who always would yell from the kitchen:  "Are you watching that spooky crap again?"  But the moment Joan Bennett appeared, my mom, dish-towel in hand, would creep into the doorway of the living room and watch.  And when Quentin's Theme played on the radio, she'd turn up the volume and listen and afterwards would hum the melody over and over.  She even learned to ear-play it, one finger at a time, on our organ (I had the sheet music and performed it during the annual concert at our local conservatory where I took organ lessons).

Sometimes I think DS haters just like being contrarians.  DS was the most popular and one of the most iconographic soap operas of all time.  It set standards which exist to this day.  It influenced highly popular literary takes on vampires, from Salem's Lot to Interview With the Vampire to Twilight.  Other soaps began to introduce direct supernatural plots.  It's the only soap from its time where every episode (save parts of one) has been preserved in some form, has re-aired many times, is available on DVD, had two television remakes and inspired three motion pictures, all successful and profitable.  Is there any soap opera that has an annual festival that draws several thousand people?  How many soaps have had numerous documentaries produced about them?  Only one.  And soundtracks - don't forget the soundtracks.  I have seven of them and I don't think that's all of them.  There's a lot to be resentful of and to hate when one likes to go against the grain with something so unique, groundbreaking, successful and continuing in popularity.  Don't forget, many if not most critics initially panned The Wizard of Oz.  It's now listed in the top ten greatest motion pictures of all time.

These DS-haters, especially among the "younger" crowd, simply like being contrarians.  Being conditioned to enjoying what's only here for the moment and gone the next, they don't have the concept of something that has endured over time (with some exceptions).  For example, The Avengers was their big lovey-huggy, but no one hears much about it anymore.  It's now yesterday's news; it's no longer "trending."  Now it's the latest Batman movie (its reputation, however, sadly sullened by the tragedy).  Today's younger critics are formed by the do-it-now mentality.  For me, this little non-DS-related clip pretty much sums it up:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSSDeesUUsU

Gerard

[Mysterious Benefactor]

The really unfortunate thing is that the majority of people who come across that MSN thing will accept what's written as fact because that's what we're all conditioned to do - believe what we read. It's only those who are closely following the box office numbers who'll know differently - and that's a small percentage of the readership. Even I, who's been following things very closely since the DS film was released, don't normally do so to anywhere near the extent that I have been. So, if I wasn't doing so and/or I wasn't a DS fan, it would be very likely that I would believe what's written about the DS film without a second thought. And sure, in this case in the grand scheme of things it's not a big thing because we're just talking about a film (yes, it's big to us - but not to the majority of the world). But just think of how frightening it can be when what's being written about by Internet writers is seriously important in the grand scheme of things, yet as much misinformation is being spread about that situation as is being spread about the DS film in this one.

78 days 14 hours 2 minutes 0 seconds since the Depp/Burton Dark Shadows has been in release(ET)!!

[Mysterious Benefactor]

I finally got the chance to check out some of the charts for last week's box office on Box Office Mojo. Last weekend DS brought in $1,209,814 (an increase of 433.1%), and according to BOM it ranked 12th:

July 20-22, 2012 Weekend Box Office

 

The truly unfortunate thing, though, is that very few people will ever realize that because Warner Brothers took forever and didn't release DS' numbers until this past Friday. In fact, because its numbers were delayed so long, DS isn't listed at all on the box office chart in this week's issue of Entertainment Weekly. And that's even more unfortunate because EW has a large readership, so if DS had been listed, many people, including many of the people at the Web sites and those entertainment columnists dissing DS, would have likely seen it. Oh well - I suppose their fantasies are secure because they're quite obviously not checking out sites like BOM.

But anyway, considering that DS did so well, I was curious to see how its numbers compare to this year's other films in their 11th weekend. The following list contains the Top 10 grossing films in their 11th weekend - and DS' numbers obviously speak for themselves - especially the fantastic per screen number:

Film	Gross	Per Screen
=====================	========	========
The Hunger Games	$1,567,186	$1,426
Marvel's The Avengers	$1,398,754	$1,872
DARK SHADOWS	$1,209,814	$2,936
21 Jump Street	$660,795	$1,815
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel	$651,051	$1,904
Journey 2: The Mysterious Island	$609,781	$1,373
Dr. Seuss' The Lorax	$432,245	$950
John Carter	$368,994	$1,057
Mirror Mirror	$342,921	$1,132
Bernie	$250,914	$2,220

As to comparing DS with Wrath, unfair, unschmair.  They both got the same chance, and if Wrath was doing better later in its run it would've had more theaters.  Wrath did better in its opening, so now DS gets a chance to do better later on.  A comparison is valid, I say! 

Well, if you put it that way then I will share that in its 11th weekend Wrath of the Titans brought in $104,684 - $1,105,130 less than what DS grossed in its 11th weekend.

79 days 12 hours 0 minutes 14 seconds since the Depp/Burton Dark Shadows has been in release(ET)!!

[David]

I'll be spreading the word. Mr. Editor at Fangoria has given me the OK to address all this anti-DS hate.
I'll be addressing that foolish post at MSN--tomorrow I'll be contacting MPI to get an official statement from them about how well the DVDs have sold--I already have good press contacts at MPI and at Big Finish.
I'll further include a few terse words about journalists who use their podiums to hash out personal vendettas without checking facts.
I'll address this further when I review the Depp Shadows DVD in Scary Monsters Mag and Videoscope.
The info you posted RE; last week will also be mentioned, MB.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

I've had the chance to check out some more charts on Box Office Mojo, and there's more interesting news when it comes to DS' box office for last week. If it wasn't for the fact that 21 Jump Street's 74th day fell on the Memorial Day Holiday, chances are that DS would have been the top grossing film in its range of theaters compared to all of this year's films on their 74th day as well as all the films in its range of theaters last Monday. However, because of the holiday, 21 Jump Street came out ahead of DS, $108,241 vs. $103,693. But last Monday DS did beat out all the other other films in its range of theaters regardless of how many weeks they've been in release. The second place film was Marvel's The Avengers with $98,364. And in fact, DS beat out that film on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. It wasn't until Thursday that it was able to beat DS once again.

And as for rankings, it's looking like DS was 13th last Monday, 12th last Tuesday and Wednesday, and 14th last Thursday. And what really helped DS become 12th for the entire week was that during the weekend it ranked 11th on Friday, 10th on Saturday, and 12th on Sunday. Who would have thought we would have ever seen DS back in the Top 10?! I certainly didn't. 

And finally, as far as a comparison to Wrath of the Titans goes, it'll probably come as no surprised that DS trounced that film during the Monday-Thursday period as well. In its 11th Monday-Thursday, Wrath of the Titans brought in $61,457, whereas DS brought in $442,326.    And to find a Monday-Thursday period when DS had brought in more than that, we'd have to go all the way back to its 5th week in release. Though in that week it was playing in 1,550 theaters - not just 412. 

79 days 18 hours 35 minutes 40 seconds since the Depp/Burton Dark Shadows has been in release(ET)!!

[jimbo]

Interesting article on tentpoles. A brief DS reference. http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118057186

On a side note thanks for bringing us up to date on the DS box office performance.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

I'm not home, but I just got a text message about this from GK Films and had to find a computer to post the link ASAP:

Dark Shadows with Johnny Depp Blu-ray Release Date, Details and Cover Art

Can't wait to check out those extras! 

80 days 18 hours 1 minute 32 seconds since the Depp/Burton Dark Shadows has been in release(ET)!!

[michael c]

i'm confused...

will all of the bonus features and deleted scenes be on both releases or only the blue ray? or do they all come together?


the extra scenes really sound like they might help flesh some of it out.

[David]

box office mojo reports that DS made $287,000 over the weekend. came it at 21st place, an understandable drop considering the theater count drop.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Though that's almost $30,000 more than it grossed in its 7th weekend when it was playing in 302 theaters and over $60,000 more than it grossed in its 10th weekend when it was in 239 theaters.    So, it's still performing well.

Thanks for posting the numbers, David. 

80 days 21 hours 10 minutes 26 seconds since the Depp/Burton Dark Shadows has been in release(ET)!!

[Mysterious Benefactor]

i'm confused...

will all of the bonus features and deleted scenes be on both releases or only the blue ray? or do they all come together?

That site makes it seem like those extras are only on the Blu-ray/DVD Combo release and not the DVD only release. But I suppose we'll have to wait for some site like Amazon to list the extras on both releases to know for sure.

the extra scenes really sound like they might help flesh some of it out.

Yes, they do. October 2nd can't come soon enough. 

80 days 21 hours 15 minutes 21 seconds since the Depp/Burton Dark Shadows has been in release(ET)!!

[Cousin_Barnabas]

This is refreshing news.  The cover art is 100 times better than the images we saw earlier.  I just hope that the DVD (either the one that is included with the BR or the single release) has the deleted scenes, and that they aren't just on the BR disc.  I can't afford to buy a BR player just for these scenes, so I am hoping this is the case.  I think that these deleted scenes will make this film much more enjoyable, as they don't sound like some of the included scenes which I will surely be fast-forwarding through.     These added scenes may also help explain the purpose of Julia Hoffman in this film, which would be nice.