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

[Mysterious Benefactor]

i didn't know that "Art Wallace" went to court over who created the characters.

There are several topics on the forum that discuss that incident - but the details are pretty OT for this topic. Try using the forum's Advanced Search feature.  

i'd love them to try another tv series retry. but of course with people involved who knew & respected the work. from what i hear on iMDB & here the last attempt wasn't very good. so that's why i put it that way.

Again, OT to go into in this topic, but I think you'll find that most forum members weren't of the opinion that the '04 WB pilot wasn't very good. In fact, many found much to enjoy and admire about the effort. For example, check out

WB 2004 Pilot Redux

and the topic it links to at the top of its first post...

[B.Collins]

oh i'm sure there are people on here who enjoyed the Pilot, i'm not denying that. i was of course just referring to the people who didn't like it. that's all

[Mysterious Benefactor]

It's nice to see that even though DS isn't referenced in any way in Entertainment Weekly's cover story (available this week) on Johnny Depp (and Angelina Jolie - which is, after all, to promote The Tourist and not DS), there is a separate piece right at the top of the This Weeks's Deal Report about the Depp/DS film starting production in April. Sort of makes up for their speculative report of two years ago. Sort of...

[Mysterious Benefactor]

The only thing I am sure of is that we will not find this movie to be funny.

I was just catching up and checking out more of the latest reports that have been blanketing the Web and apparently The Film Stage seems to be of the opinion that DS is "whimsical." I've seen many descriptions of DS, but that's definitely a new one, and the typical connotation of the word is one that I wouldn't exactly call accurate.

And BTW, according to Google the count is now up to 70 entertainment/horror Web sites reporting the story. Between Web sites, newspapers and magazines that have carried the news, there can't be too many people who pay attention to such things who aren't in the know about the Depp/DS film beginning production in April.  

One recent article that isn't included in that group of 70 is this: Which Actresses Have What it Takes to Star in 'Gatsby' and 'Dark Shadows'? However, their conclusion for DS isn't exactly one that we haven't thought of ourselves. Personally, I agree that the actress in question would be perfect for the Depp/DS film and I'd love the see her appear in it - but only time will tell if she will...

[jimbo]

Thanks MB. I look forward in receiving the EW issue at hand in the mail. I also agree at the moment with the actress who may play Victoria Winters. Re: DS being"Whimsical" how outrageous! Are these the same writers who are going to review the DS movie?
Re: the WB DS pilot. Does anybody know what happened to all of the props IE. Director's chairs, paintings etc...Just wondering what WB did with all of the them after the pilot was filmed.

[Gothick]

I know it doesn't do any good to post this, but a few nights ago I was watching a bit of the new Sherlock series on pbs.org and it suddenly hit me that Benedict Cumberbatch would make a perfect Barnabas Collins.  The lighting, the coat, the hairstyling for Sherlock all would be ideal for a re-conceptualization of Barnabas.  Of course Cumberbatch would have to dial the whole manic genius thing WAY down for Barn but he is clearly a highly skilled actor...

He just seems to have more of "that Barnabas edge" to me than Depp.  Of course, I am clearly the only fan who thinks this, so...

I have the feeling that Depp Shadows could very well be "whimsical."  Whimsy seems to be a frequent feature of Tim Burton's work.

G.

[madscntst]

Gothik, this is my concern too, but more because of Tim than because of Johnny.  I know a lot of folks perceive Johnny's characters as "offbeat" and even loveable misfits, but he can be very dark when it's called for.  Check out the ends of Secret Window and The Astronaut's Wife (though the latter is a pretty bad movie), or his cameo as a prison guard in Before Night Falls (in which he also has a totally separate cameo as a transvestite!)  Even in Blow, Donnie Brasco, The Libertine (one of his best performances ever!) and Public Enemies, among others, he plays it pretty straight and dramatic.  And then there is Sweeney Todd, probably his darkest character yet, which I hope will come close to the tone that Johnny uses for Barnabas.

As for Tim, I try to keep reminding myself that Tim directed Sweeney Todd.  I also think the atmosphere in Sleepy Hollow would be amenable to DS.  But after seeing Alice In Wonderland this year and not being too thrilled with it, I'm really hoping that Tim can do DS with the edge it deserves.

[Gothick]

Mad Scientist, thanks for your thoughts.  Interesting about Sweeney Todd.  I had the impression from the trailers that there was an awful lot of the trademark Burton candy-colored chop-suey fleecy-flossie flying about... and it was a musical...

Whatever.  As long as the 1970s feature films come out on disc restored and with extras, I'll be a happy fan. They can totally shred what's left of the Franchise at that point as far as I am concerned...  I wasn't a fan of the WB pilot and I suspect that Depp Shadows will make that look like a bit of quiet noir realism...

cheers, G.

[Gothick]

PS. Mad Scientist, it's funny that you and I have the same avatar.  It's giving kind of a Hitchcock flair to this interchange.

Barn:  Remember SOMEBODY, Julia!
Jules:  Oh-ho-ho-ho-hohoho NO-ho-hohohoho!  BARN-a-bas!

cheers,

G.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Re: DS being"Whimsical" how outrageous! Are these the same writers who are going to review the DS movie?

That I have no idea because I'm not at all familiar with the site (yesterday was the first that I'd even heard of it).

In their defense, they may have been thinking the definition of whimsical that means freakish. But even if they did, I seriously doubt that's the definition the vast majority of people reading their remarks would come away with because that's the far less used connotation.

As for the definition of whimsical that most come away with, that's been my fear ever sense Burton was first mentioned as directing because that's the sort of style that's most associated with his films. However, as I've mentioned before, I'm holding onto Sleepy Hollow as an example of Burton's work that could lend itself well to DS. It's perfectly dark and Gothic in tone. Yes, there is humor in the film, but it comes from out of character - it's not there simply for the sake of being - it has a point to it and it enhances the story. If humor is used in that way in the Depp/DS film, I'll have no problems with it whatsoever.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

I know it doesn't do any good to post this, but a few nights ago I was watching a bit of the new Sherlock series on pbs.org and it suddenly hit me that Benedict Cumberbatch would make a perfect Barnabas Collins.  The lighting, the coat, the hairstyling for Sherlock all would be ideal for a re-conceptualization of Barnabas.  Of course Cumberbatch would have to dial the whole manic genius thing WAY down for Barn but he is clearly a highly skilled actor...

He just seems to have more of "that Barnabas edge" to me than Depp.  Of course, I am clearly the only fan who thinks this, so...

Actually you're not alone because I agree that Cumberbatch has many qualities that could make for a perfect Barnabas. And there were no signs of the manic genius persona that he displays as Sherlock Holmes when he did The Last Enemy, which was part of the '08 season of Masterpiece Contemporary. But as you say, it doesn't do any good to wonder what Cumberbatch might be able to do with the role because it's already cast. Though I do have a great deal of confidence that Depp also has what it takes to play Barn, and I'm really looking forward to his take.

[jimbo]

Jim Pierson is interviewed and mentions the new film and used Sleepy Hollow as a comparison how the movie may look.

http://www.blogofdarkshadows.com/?p=152

My apologies to Mr. Gross-I did not see his original post before my post.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Using Sleepy Hollow as a comparison. Imagine.    Though he and I are hardly the only ones who have, as several other members' posts on the forum will attest.  

Actually, as I alluded to back in March, I've been meaning to make this post since way back then, but things just never aligned correctly until today because I finally found the time to pick out the screen caps I want to use for the post (even though I took captures from the entire SH film last April ).

But anyway, Sleepy Hollow does indeed seem to be a perfect template for what the Depp/DS film could be and might actually turn out to be. It literally oozes with great Gothic atmosphere. There are a few elements in SH that I would prefer to see done differently in DS, but given Tim Burton's way of working, if he does go in the same sort of directions with DS, I'll certainly be able to live with it because the way he handled those elements in SH worked quite well. Not to mention there have been great strides made in CGI since SH was done - so in all likelihood what might be done with DS could look even better.

First off, I love the entire look of SH. One amazing thing to realize is that all the scenes that take place in the woods surrounding the village of Sleepy Hollow (and there are numerous scenes that do) were all shot in a huge studio and not out of doors, they look quite authentic (and decidely creepy):

Secondly, the village of Sleepy Hollow, particularly considering that it's merely a group of facades built in an empty English field, looks amazing - and actually becomes a character (or a groups of characters) unto itself:

And even though the backgrounds in virtually every scene are completely added elements, they also look quite authentic and lend the film so much of its atmosphere. I particularly love these two shots:

And lastly there's the CGI generation of the manor house. While I'd much prefer that Burton use a real house for the exterior of Collinwood and shoot exteriors there, I have to confess that if Collinwood were created in a similar way as the manor house in SH, I believe I wouldn't have much of a problem accepting it (and considering what Burton has done in the past (and not just with SH), a CGI exterior may indeed be the way that things go):

[jimbo]

MB thanks for taking the time out to post these great looking screen captures from SH. I am more confident now that TB is the right man for this DS film. SH does capture the DS atmosphere so well. I do hope there will be on location shootings for the DS film but TB seems very capable of creating a whole new world on a stage lot.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

A bit behind on checking my e-mail alerts but Seth Grahame-Smith has an article in Variety (dated yesterday) that references his work on the DS script (nothing we don't already know): Seth Grahame-Smith: 'Zombies' opens door. But what's interesting about it is that it's part of a larger focus entitled "10 SCREENWRITERS TO WATCH" - and it's quite encouraging to see Grahame-Smith on such a list in such a prestigious trade paper as Variety.    Unfortunately, though, unless you're a member of Variety's Web site or you haven't read two other articles there this month, you won't be able to read it. Well, until next month.  


[edit: I see where Blog of Dark Shadows has quoted some of Grahame-Smith's remarks from the article as part of its latest article on him.]