There is a "facts" list on the IMDB message boards which include this little tidbit. I have no idea where this information has come from.
"Burton fired John August off the project when he found out John August was not a Dark Shadows fan and did now grow up watching the show as he and Depp had."
"Tim and Depp are obligating all non-Dark Shadows fans in the cast and crew to watch the DVDs. Helena (who did not grow up with the show) has been watching the DVDs between takes with Michelle Phifer."
"They've actually built a full scale Collinwood based on notes left by Dan Curtis. It's not Computer generated. They built the entire Collinwood mansion."
Anybody else read anything in relation to those first few bits of info anywhere?
Much of what we know from other sources would tend to dispute a lot of that. For instance:
We know for a fact that while he was working on his version of the script, John August had multiple meetings with both Burton and Depp over a period of like a year. In all that time it never once came up that August hadn't watched DS? Possible, but not very plausible. Plus, the notion that August was fired at all is in question in and of itself. As I've said, Seth Grahame-Smith has said all he did was tweak Barnabas' dialogue. But even if it's true that at some point after that interview Grahame-Smith wrote a whole new version of the script, August is still given story credit (along with Grahame-Smith) in the official WB Press Release. That doesn't seem like someone who's been fired.
I believe it was KLS who first mentioned that Helena Bonham Carter is watching the DVDs. However, it's certainly implied that she decided to watch them all on her own. And then Michelle Pfeiffer watched some with her. And now supposedly they're both hooked on the show. I don't recall any reports that any other members of the cast are watching the DVDs. And frankly, Burton would be a very strange director if he obligated the cast to watch them as most directors want their casts to bring their own interpretations to their roles - not give carbon-copied performances of what came before. Not to mention, I've yet to ever read an interview in which an actor working on a remake/reimagining has said they want to copy a previous performance. I can certainly see Burton mentioning that the cast might want to check out the DVDs to see things like tone/style of the show - but to obligate them? Hmmm...
As for them building an entire full scale Collinwood interior set, I don't know. We've been led to believe that the biggest indoor set for the film is the Gothic entrance hall of Collinwood, which is built on Pinewood's 007 Stage, the studio's biggest stage. As I've posted before, the dimensions of that stage are 374 ft. long, 158 ft. wide, and 41 ft. high. The entrance hall has been described as huge, but it would have to be humongous to take up most of that space! I've pretty much pictured something like the set for the '91 Series' entrance hall but on a somewhat grander scale. And that set did have rooms/corridors off of it, a grand staircase, and a second story landing. The film's version could easily have more rooms off of it, and even some second story rooms. But a full scale of the entire house? I don't know. And given how many stages the film is using at Pinewood, it would seem more logical that some of the other stages house other Collinwood rooms...
No one at IMDB has brought any of it into question.
I doubt they would because most posters over there don't seem to have been following the early development of the film all that closely - or even some of the current developments. I've read all sorts of comments over there that would not have been made if they were following closely.
It's probably best to approach much of what's on IMDb with a grain of salt - and I'm not just referring to what gets posted on the message board. For example, DC is credited with creating the DS characters - but we all know that Art Wallace did - and Wallace's estate has a court decision to back that up. But obviously whoever added that tidbit about DC isn't aware of that...
254 days 12 hours 38 minutes 16 seconds until the day the Depp/Burton Dark Shadows is released(ET)!!