It's official: Dark Shadows returns as a film with Johnny Depp

[Janet the Wicked]

The hokey, the funny… I have a feeling these pre production interviews are meant to make us go crazy. Mr. Depp and Mr. Burton have made some damn classy movies. I just don’t see them making Dark Shadows into some goofy spoof.
If you’ve seen Ed Wood, yeah it’s over the top, but so was Ed Wood. Johnny Depp played it perfectly. My favorite of his films is Sleepy Hollow. He incorporated his love of the old Sherlock Holmes movies into his portrayal of Icabod Crane. There is plenty of horror and gore, but also some humor. And it’s fun.  No harm done.
So chill out, people. Have faith in these guys. They’ve made some great movies and millions of dollars!

[michaelhacketttodd]

Agreed.  Before we can Constructively Critique the Film, We need to See the Film.

[Cousin_Barnabas]

I was actually reassured by those comments because it says that the film will be gory and Gothic.

I was too!  Because, he said, "Let's not be afraid to make this film funny." To me, that means that we are dealing with a very serious film - and we shouldn't be afraid to lighten it up.  

[borgosi]

I think you misunderstood my point, which was, there's more than one way to bring new fans to DS and that shouldn't be the bottom line. It would be great to have new fans but at what cost? New fans or not we should want the best new DS movie that we can get.

Again, I don't want fans of the new movie to watch the original DS and think "that wasn't funny".

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Because, he said, "Let's not be afraid to make this film funny." To me, that means that we are dealing with a very serious film - and we shouldn't be afraid to lighten it up.

That's the impression I got as well. 

[borgosi]

I hope you're right.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

tracking-board.com is listing an article entitled "MICHAEL SHEEN Sets His Sights on the DARK SHADOWS of Johnny Depp, Eva Green and Helena Bonham Carter!"

It seems like there really may be something to it: Michael Sheen Enters Talks For Tim Burton's Dark Shadows

[Mary]

I was actually reassured by those comments because it says that the film will be gory and Gothic.

I was too!  Because, he said, "Let's not be afraid to make this film funny." To me, that means that we are dealing with a very serious film - and we shouldn't be afraid to lighten it up. 

Yes!  This is what I thought too.  I can't wait to see the final product!

[michael c]

no matter how successful the film is i'm really not sure how many "new fans it will bring to the original DS".

i've said this before but i think the main reason our fanbase has stayed relatively small is the series' colossal number of episodes and it's serialized format. for it to make sense it must be watched regularly and followed sequentially. one could not randomly watch an 1840 episode and a 1970 parallel time episode and a 1966 episode and an 1897 episode and expect to make heads nor tails of it. the sets and some of the actors might be the same but otherwise it's almost a different show if one's not already familiar with the progression of it.

other "cult" shows with a fantasy angle might have overarching themes but in general they can be viewed in the order desired and likely only produced a hundred or so episodes as opposed to over 1200. that takes a huge commitment and sort of discourages casual viewership. it took me over five years to watch this thing and still i haven't seen all of it.

i've tried to get friends with a similar sensibility involved to no avail. i've loaned them a dvd, they watched and "liked" it but that was the end of it. it's too big a commitment and most people simply will not set aside the time to watch this from beginning to end.

[Willie Loomis]

I have read Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, and while it was a horror story it did have some humor in it and it did not take away from the horror of the story, so this guy might be okay as far as writing the script.   

I will reserve judgement until I see the movie -- which will be the first movie i've seen in theatres in about 8 years.

[Phil]

tracking-board.com is listing an article entitled "MICHAEL SHEEN Sets His Sights on the DARK SHADOWS of Johnny Depp, Eva Green and Helena Bonham Carter!"

It seems like there really may be something to it: (URL)

Another class act. If I were guessing, he's either playing Jeremiah (if we're getting a flashback/origin) or he's playing Roger...or both! I can see Burton having a lot with the dual roles aspect of the story.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Thanks to the DS News Page at collinwood.net: Movie Set Construction Begins

Can't wait to see the "huge gothic entrance hall" - hopefully it will be as or even more impressive than the one constructed for the '91 Series. And not too much of a surprise that Burton is creating "an entire New England fishing village," considering he created an entire village for Sleepy Hollow.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

he's playing Roger

I had the same thought. Though I've seen others suggest Jason McGuire. But we have no idea if Jason or even Roger are a part of the film.

Apparently Sheen is reading the script this weekend. So, if he does decide to do the film, hopefully in the not too distant future we'll find out which role he'll play.

And yes, should he become a part of it, Sheen will definitely add yet another layer of class to the production.

[Taeylor Collins]

Good to hear some more news about DS coming to the forefront. Very excited about Micheal Sheen possibly joining the cast!   I haven't been around much so it's good to see these things after being offline for a few days.  We have a stellar cast so far. He would make a great addition.   

The 1991 show really revitalized fandom.  I have a lot of friends who were brought to DS through the revival and they have alot of friends who were brought into DS through the Revival. And all of them have watched the original after getting into the Revival.  I still think it can bring lots of fans to the original; however, I respect everyone's views and opinions!

[Mysterious Benefactor]

The DS universe has always been a dark horror gothic romance show-never intentionally funny. I wonder how DC would react to this script.

I'm sort of surprised that no one has commented on this because, if one thinks about it, what DC might think might be fairly deducible. But before I say more I'll wait to see if anyone else is thinking along the same lines as what I suspect could be the answer...