I just noticed that the Depp/DS film has hit an all-time new high of 182 on IMDb's MOVIEmeter. What is MOVIEmeter, you might ask? Well, as defined by IMDB, "MOVIEmeter rankings provide a snapshot of what movies are hot based on the searches of millions of IMDb users. Updated weekly, these rankings also graph the popularity of movies over time and determine which events affect public awareness."
IMDb attributes the current 182 ranking to all the publicity surrounding the casting of Thomas McDonell and particularly Chloe Moretz. Apparently Moretz is quite a popular young lady - more popular than any of us may have realized. And to put that
182 into perspective:
- The week of March 27th, when Michael Sheen's rumored casting was being reported, DS achieved a ranking of 830 (having shot up from 860 the week before).
- The week of February 20th, when Michelle Pfeiffer and Helena Bonham Carter were being reported, DS achieved a ranking of 582 (having shot up from 995 the week before).
- The week of February 6th, when Eva Green and Jackie Earle Haley were being reported, DS achieved a ranking of 586 (having shot up from 1,372 the week before).
Some more perspective facts:
- The Depp/DS film actually started out on the MOVIEmeter with a ranking of 18,214 the week of August 5, 2007.
- It hit its all-time low with a ranking of 41, 428 the week of February 10, 2008.
- It shot way up to 7,280 when news of Tim Burton directing was finally confirmed the week of June 8, 2008.
- It leapt way up to 1,661 the week of June 15, 2008 based on the same news.
- It hit its previous high of 515 the week of August 10, 2008 still based on the same news along with Depp's casting in Alice in Wonderland.
- It slipped all the way down to 1,047 by the week of September 21, 2008.
- The erroneous reports of DS being "kaput" brought it up to 693 the week of October 12, 2008.
- It slid down to 1,165 by the week of November 16, 2008.
- News that DS was seriously being considered as Burton and Depp's next move brought it up to 747 the week of December 7, 2008.
- When that didn't pan out, it slipped down to 12,918 by February 22, 2009.
- It got a slight bump to 11,844 the week of March 22, 2009 based on initial reports that it was still 'very active.'
- It leapt up to 1,951 the week of June 28, 2009 based on Depp's interviews that 'Dark Shadows is happening.'
- By the week of November 15, 2009, it slipped back down to 6,975.
- Reports that DS would begin shooting in the fall of 2010 brought it up to 4,094 the week of December 13, 2009.
- It slipped down to 6,440 by the week of February 7, 2010.
- A new set of interviews from Burton and Depp concerning Alice and DS brought it up to 2,593 the week of March 7, 2010.
- It slipped down to 7,064 by June 27, 2010.
- Reports of Seth Grahame-Smith being brought on as the new script writer brought it up to 4,858 the week of July 25, 2010.
- It slipped down to 9,472 by the week of October 3, 2010.
- News that DS would begin shooting in "Early 2011" only brought it back up to 7,993 the week of October 10, 2010. (Given how previous reports/rumors had not materialized, people were probably shy about believing it at that point.)
- It slipped down to 12,300 by October 31, 2010.
- Confirmed reports in the trades of an April 2011 start brought DS up to 1,226 the week of November 14, 2010.
- Another set of Burton/Depp interviews brought it up to 945 the week of December 12, 2010.
- And it has only fallen down to 1,470 by the week of January 16, 2011 before the Eva Green and Jackie Earle Haley casting news broke.
It's probably also worth noting that IMDb lists the cast members based on their personal STARmeter. Some may be shocked at how high Chole Moretz ranking really is (which is no doubt why her casting has caused the film itself to jump so high).
Here are their rankings (and even though HBC isn't currently listed on IMDb, I'm including her as well):
Johnny Depp ... Barnabas Collins 10
Chloe Moretz ... Carolyn Stoddard 12
Eva Green ... Angelique Bouchard 88
Helena Bonham Carter ... Dr. Julia Hoffman 127
Michael Sheen 173
Michelle Pfeiffer ... Elizabeth Collins Stoddard 328
Jackie Earle Haley ... Willie Loomis 542
Thomas McDonell ... Young Barnabas Collins 1,298
Bella Heathcote ... Victoria Winters 2,275
Gulliver McGrath ... David Collins 12,591
Changing reels entirely, just for the fun of it I looked up the definition of a black comedy in the Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms:
"
black comedy: a kind of drama in which disturbing or sinister subjects like death, disease, or warfare, are treated with bitter amusement, usually in a manner calculated to offend and shock."
That would most definitely jibe with the descriptions we've been getting of the Depp/DS film being dark, bloody and scary along with it being funny. But it doesn't necessarily fit in with fears that the film itself will be a comedy rather than a drama with comedic elements to it. So, if the Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms' definition is the sort of black comedy that Eva Green was trying to sort of describe, it wouldn't appear that there's all that much to worry about. Treating death with bitter amusement can easily slip into the DS universe. In fact, I would hazard a guess that it's already been a part of the DS universe and we could find examples if we went looking for them...
Also:
Oh my goodness, ProfStokes! How great would that be?! It's too perfect to be real... or is it?
Yes, that would be quite an interesting twist if it turns out to be the way things will play out.