A recent series of articles that Variety has featured spotlighting Pinewood's 75th Anniversary along with recent discussions here following WB's press release have me thinking about Collinwood in the Depp/DS film again. When I read the release, I didn't take the part that said that the once-grand estate of Collinwood had fallen into ruin to mean that the mansion was in ruins. As others have noted, that sort of phrasing is often part of Gothic plots and most often it simply means that a house has fallen into disrepair and the grounds haven't been kept up and are perhaps overgrown. And also in most cases people are still living in the house - it isn't that it's unlivable. However, that being said, I am very intrigued with the idea that Collinwood could have fallen into such a state that the house is actually unlivable. As others have said, that could certainly solve a problem if there is no Old House because, if the Collins family is living in some other mansion on the estate, Barnabas could move into Collinwood and fix it up. I can even imagine the three hippies alluded to on IMDb inadvertently stumbling into a section of what they think is a deserted house only to find that the house isn't quite as deserted as they thought is was and paying a very large price for trespassing.
The thing about the house being in ruins, though, may mean that the exterior of Collinwood might be completely CGI generated, and I don't know what I think about that. But I do think I could accept a ruined Collinwood in CGI easier than I would a mansion that isn't in disrepair. But I suppose only time will tell because it could very easily be jumping the gun to think that Collinwood of the film will be unlivable in 1972.
But getting back to the Pinewood articles in Variety, one of them (which does mention that DS is currently shooting at Pinewood (
The lay of the land) also mentions that Pinewood not only comes complete with its own mansion, called Heatherden Hall, but also formal gardens and a lake. The house isn't quite what I would picture as Collinwood, though parts of it could pass (or it could be used as an exterior or even the interior of the house where the Collinses reside should Collinwood be unlivable), but the gardens could be perfect because there appears to be walkways with gargoyles and fountains and what have you, all of which could be easily dressed down to look like they've seen better days (just as, say, the exterior of Greystone was in the pilot for the '91 Series). And thanks to the article in Variety, I came across this page on Pinewood's own Web site:
Location Filming. Simply scroll down and click on the photos in the "Heatherden Hall (exterior)" and "Pinewood Formal Gardens & Lake" sections. And as an added bonus, in the "Black Park" section there's also a cemetery with really old gravestones that looks like it could be a perfect location for the Depp/DS film. (There's also another mansion (Littleton House) in the Shepperton Studios Locations section, but there's been no mention of the Depp/DS film also utilizing Shepperton Studios Locations, so I'm disregarding what's there.)
Also speaking of Collinwood, there's been speculation on IMDb that a recent photo that's been posted to Flickr could be showing the construction of a Collinwood facade set. It's way too early in the construction as depicted to really know what they're building, but it's an interesting theory. Here's a link to the photo in question:
Dark Shadows Film Set - 2 (those Gothic windows coud perhaps be a part of Collinwood - or they could be a part of a church for all we know
). (And there's also an even more obscure photo:
Dark Shadows Film Set - 1.)
Let the speculation continue...
353 days 8 hours 51 minutes 6 seconds until the day the Depp/Burton DARK SHADOWS is released(ET)!!