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

[Barnabas'sBride]

If they do a movie in the modern time period, I fully expect it to take place in the current time frame and not the 60s.

But personally, I think Barnabas's origins is more likely for a starting point.

[Lydia]

How about this: We start in 200x, with our perennially sort-of-youthful Barnabas.  An issue comes up that requires a trip to 1967 when Barnabas first was unchained.  Naturally, from 1967 we end up going back to 1795 when Barnabas was cursed.  And maybe we make a brief stop for souvenirs in 1897 on our way back to 200x.  The movie should come in at just under 90 minutes, wouldn't you say?

[Doug]

heaven's forbid.   It should be in the 60s.    NO CELL PHONES OR COMPUTERS IN COLLINWOOD.

Even if the story takes place in the present, I hope the movie will be film around the New England States and
not too much inside a studio in hollywood. I'm also hoping inside of Collinwood will be a gothic style mansion and
alot of antique furniture.

[madscntst]

I would be fine with some of the storyline taking place in the 2000's, but Lydia's time stops would work perfectly for me, too!

If Burton does direct, for what it's worth, he has for years made most if not all of his movies in a studio (Pinewood) in London.  To my knowledge, Sleepy Hollow, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Sweeney Todd were all filmed there; I don't know about Big Fish.  However, the New England setting is so important for DS that I wonder if he would indeed shoot it on location or try to recreate it in a studio.  For what it's worth also, before Sweeney Todd, Burton was set to direct (and produce?) Jim Carrey in a film about Ripley's Believe It Or Not, which I think would've involved going on location, so at least Burton wouldn't necessarily ALWAYS film in a studio.  But then again, that film hasn't gotten made.  But anyway, it's just a thought that the studio seems to be Burton's preference these days...

Cathy

[GooberCollins]

Precisely why he often uses mostly British casts. Or, actually, maybe not, as Big Fish was shot in Alabama and we had Albert Finney and Ewan McGregor.

Burton probably filmed Big Fish in Alabama because the project was originally going to be done by Steven Spielberg. I do hope that he actually films in New England and not on a sound stage or in on location in a foreign country. They used New York for HoDS, right? And though NY isn't in New England, it's pretty close. And he can't claim that it'd be impossible to get the right atmosphere there, as HoDS had quite a lot of that.

[jimbo]

Get Smart earned almost 40 million dollars this weekend. Glad remakes are not dead. Wonder if WB took further notice that it has another developmental remake project in the wings.

http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=46213

[Teresa]

I think I'd prefer a modern day version of Dark Shadows but keeping in the tradition of a good old New England family with a whole lot of skeletons in their closets.  However they decide to make it, a major motion picture good or bad can only bring attention to the original and best Dark Shadows there is.  Maybe the publicity will be enough to bring the show back on to tv on a regular basis. God knows Chiller needs a new lineup.

[jimbo]

Hope this is not an old article as it was dated "yesterday" from another linked website. Nothing real new but I like the Barnabas comparison photo.

http://www.retrothing.com/2008/06/dark-shadows-ha.html

[Midnite]

I like the Barnabas comparison photo.

I like the caption, too:  It's like looking in a mirror - wait, vampires can't do that!

[jimbo]

I like the caption, too:  It's like looking in a mirror - wait, vampires can't do that!

Hi Midnite. Perhaps only on our beloved show can vampires appear in a mirror, unintentionally of course. lol

[madscntst]

I remember seeing the "portrait" with Johnny's face superimposed last year, though not as a side-by-side comparison with Frid-- that's very cool.  I also have not seen the article yet, so thanks jimbo!  True it doesn't really have anything new to say, but I always love to see another mention!

Regarding the mirror, this is a little off the topic of the movie per se, but one of my all-time favorite lines of the entire series was when Angelique was scolding Barnabas about something or other, and she said to him, "What do you see when you look in the mirror?  Oh, I forgot... you see NOTHING."  Bwahahahaha    Okay, maybe this is related to the film after all, because it would be a very cool line for them to include in the script, if possible!

Cathy

[jimbo]

Madscntst that was indeed a classic line on so many levels. I don't know how Lara kept her composure when she uttered that line without going into a laughing hysteria-now that was great acting especially on a live show.

[Mary]

Love love love that pic of Johnny Depp as Barnabas!!  Thanks for posting the link, jimbo!

[madscntst]

By the way, just in case anyone is interested, the original photo of Johnny is a well-known one by the great Annie Leibovitz- it was used for the cover of Vanity Fair, among others:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v291/MadScntst/photographers/leibovitz%20annie/covers/1997vanfairleib.jpg

The photo was taken in 1996, but darned if he has barely aged a day.  Maybe he really *is* a vampire 

[Miss_Winthrop]

I like the photo.  I'd like to see the collar turned up a little more and Depp given a little darker look around his eyes.  He's going to make an amazing Barnabas!