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

Are you saying that based on Cross' remarks and how it turned out we should not be disturbed at all by Depp's recent comments? That is one leap of speculation that I am not prepared to make at this point. There is obviously a distinction between fact and speculation.  Predicting how Depp may portray Barnabas based on Cross' remarks and his subsequent performance is  highly speculative. I don't see the correlation just yet. I am focusing on JD's own words and to me they are troubling. I certainly hope you are right and Depp's performance will turn out to be brilliant. I just think we can't merely shrug off his comments like it never happened.

I'm not actually trying to say that just because things worked out with Cross that means things will work out with Depp. Nor am I saying that Depp's recent remarks should be shrugged off. I'm merely saying that one set of remarks like the ones Depp made in the recent EW interview, or like the ones Cross made in that interview I quoted from, shouldn't be focused on to the exclusion of other remarks that have also been made on the subject. In the case of the Depp/DS film, all of Depp's remarks should be taken as a whole. And as I said in my original post today, I have every expectation that there is a way that Depp's most recent remarks are completely in keeping with his previous remarks that many of us had found to be very encouraging. And I suspect that in Depp's mind he probably wouldn't think that he's contradicted himself. To him, all the remarks he's made reflect his vision of what he plans to do. To those of us outside the film looking in, they may seem contradictive - but in the end, once we see what Depp does, they probably won't appear that way anymore...

I was just over on Bella Heathcote's Twitter account looking to see if she'd tweeted anything about being in London, but nothing yet. However, I did notice that she's posted something on her from In Style Magazine. I don't check out that magazine so I have no idea if it's from the current issue. But it has to be fairly recent because the copy mentions she's doing the Deppl/DS film, and she talks about how excited she is to work with Tim Burton. The photo, though, might be older because she's blonde and she wasn't in the photo she posted on April 26th.
(You'll need to download the image, add the jpg extension, and then magnify it to read it. Sharpening it wouldn't hurt, either.  )

My reaction exactly: Quick News – Tarzan, The Bitch Posse, Lay the Favorite, Footloose, Dark Shadows.  
(Scroll down to bullet #19.)

And this article (which comes from England's Daily Mirror, so it might be wise to take it with a grain of salt), purports to explain how Depp often fleshes out his movie characters: Johnny Depp creates film characters in sauna. IF there's any truth to it, it makes one wonder if that's how he's working on Barnabas...

I see where collinwood.net's DS News Page is reporting that make-up artist Chloe Muton-Philips (who, oddly, isn't even listed on IMDb as being a part of the film) tweeted about the Depp/DS film earlier today. First off she tweeted:

"Creating magic at Pinewood Studios on Dark Shadows"

Then she followed that up with:

"We start shooting in a week! Excited to be part of an awesome project"

That completely jibes with jimbo's post here last week that myentertainmentworld.com's listing indicates that production begins May 15th. So it's looking like we actually have a solid date for the start of the film! 

A couple recent Chloe Moretz tweets:

56 mintes ago:

"On my way to the airportttt Bye Bye LA hellooo London "

27 minutes ago:

"Can't wait to start filming DarkShadows with TimBurton ahhh"


Also, we may be getting a bit of a departure with Carolyn's look because yesterday she tweeted:

"First full day with my short hair back yay"

But then, we've never had a 14-year-old Carolyn before, so everything about her will be new.  

carolyn stoddard without a glistening platinum mane...

that is a switch!

Maybe she'll be the girl of 101 falls. 

Changing the subject, I see over on IMDb that Michael Sheen is no more. And interestingly enough, the film itself climbs up a bit on MOVIEmeter to 793 based in part on reports that Sheen won't be in the film. (The other reasons being a bit more Thomas McDonell publicity and the start of a lot of Depp publicity.)

Couple of very quick things--

 re. the Quick News     

I think Johnny did mention once that he was in a sauna when he was dreaming up the Jack Sparrow character, because he was thinking of the guy getting a bit of heat stroke on a ship on the seas, hence the wobbly walk.  I don't know if it's a general thing, though    I think tabloids like that tend to take an offhanded comment from years ago and build a whole story on it.

I think Johnny is in Moscow tomorrow, then London on Thurs, then Cannes which I believe is on Sat.  After that there is a Tokyo premiere, but I am pretty sure I read somewhere that Johnny will not be able to attend that one, so once again, this jibes perfectly with filming starting next week.  At long last!    

Another tweet from Chloe Moretz:

51 minutes ago:

"So excited for DarkShadows just finished some wardrobe fittings hair and make up disscussions and most importantly meeting TimBurton ahh"

Either this girl doesn't need much sleep or she slept on the plane because she tweeted only 5 hours ago that her plane had just landed in London...


I find it interesting that a lot of these actors didn't even meet Burton during the casting process. Either he's not as hands on when it comes to casting as many other directors are - or all he needs to make a decision is to see tapes of actors' auditions...

I think tabloids like that tend to take an offhanded comment from years ago and build a whole story on it.

Indeed they do - that is when they're not building a whole story entirely out of thin air. 

Like I said the other day, who knows what sorts of stories the English tabloids are going to be coming up with once DS begins shooting? DS has never had such a high profile cast before. I suspect a lot of the reporting is going to be insane...

carolyn stoddard without a glistening platinum mane...

that is a switch!

Or possibly she'll wear a wig? I've heard rumors that a few people have actually done that in movies...   

And of course there is that very funny script that is also "out there". We can only hope for the best.

Until I hear anything more, I'm not worried at all about the "funny script" being mentioned.  As I've said in a previous post, there is much humor in Hitchcock's oeuvre.  And some current "serious" TV series often have outright hilarious moments, such as Mad Men.  I've even laughed out loud a few times when watching The Killing, which is one of the most grim series I've ever seen.

Oh, and of course we can't forget the 1991 DS (as someone previously mentioned).  Aunt Abigail, anyone?

A)  Who is Mrs. Johnson?  

B)  I had my first dream about the DS film last night.  I was working as a soundtrack mixer for the film.  Unfortunately, I was only given 15 minutes of music to mix.  And this was the same day that the shooting actually started...  I thought that all of this was strange, so I went over to watch shooting.  And what did I see/hear?  Well, I saw them practicing the first scene in which Michelle Pfeiffer is on the Collinwood set.  She looked great in a long flowing black evening gown, but I didn't like what I heard.  She was singing: "I'm creeping, crawling down the stairs in Collinwood Mansion.  I'm creeping, crawling down the stairs to see who's at the door..."

It was horrifying - but really funny at the same time.  Needless to say, Burton had turned DS into a musical and that was why there was so much hush-hush going on - and the reason I only had 15 minutes of instrumentals to mix.  They hadn't finished the rest of the soundtrack.  When Burton saw me standing and watching at the door, he came over, grabbed me, and threw me back into the audio booth, telling me that I have a job to do and that I don't have a right to know what's going on on stage.  But I did get to see who was at the door - three vampire brides who gave Elizabeth some silly string as a present.  End of dream.