Depp Shadows~~Shoot It As An Epic!

[David]

The most brilliant decision made by the producers of Superman: The Movie (1978) was to give it the epic sweep it deserved.
The journey of Kal-El from Krypton to Earth is a magnificent tale, after all.

Wouldn't it be just grand if Depp's DS had the same epic scale?
Imagine a 3 hour movie that starts with Victoria coming to Collinood, Willie finding Barnabas, and the journey to 1795 about an hour into it?
It's an inredible story, worthy of the grand sweep accorded films like Superman, Dr. Zhivago, etc.

Can such a grand tale, told in a year on TV, be told in three hours?

David

[tonyblass]

I agree wholeheartedly.  They need to match the ambition of the original show instead of trying to scale back as has been done in other versions.  They will also have to resist the urge to "fix" DS, as was done in the '91 version especially.  Part of the charm is the over the top tone.  But if anyone can do it, Depp can.  Think of the masterful pathos he managed in such high concept pictures as Sleepy Hollow and Edward Scissorhands.  Either of these could have fallen flat as overblown cartoons.  Depp has the depth and deftness to handle the camp aspects without being cheesy.  (Sweeney Todd looks like another gothic winner as well -- this supremely gifted man is uniquely qualified to tell our beloved Dark Shadows stories).

And besides, whether it is great or not it will reignite interest in the original.  But in such good hands this is almost guaranteed to be a real win-win opportunity to make DS truly eternal (as opposed to all the disasterous remakes of 60s TV series, such as the virtually unwatchable big screen Bewitched - oi vey!)

To your question, it certainly can be done.  But it hasn't been yet.  Thank God this is Johnny's childhood obsession.  It will take everything he can bring to it.

Tony Blass

[markyboo]

I like how you boys think! I, too, want to see DS "break the bank" as far as production values & special effects go! I want to see sweeping, aerial shots of Collinwood & of the characters walking along the cliffs overlooking the ocean. Since the Collins family livelihood is connected with the ocean, I would like to see scenes of the fishing boats at sea & the docks at the Collinsport Cannery. SHOW the audience why the Collinses are wealthy & have been for several centuries! I want to see a Blue Whale packed with extras & scenes set on the streets of Collinsport. Viewers should almost be able to smell that saltwater! I hope they don't shoot the movie in some generic Beverly Hills mansion. I wish the interiors could be constructed on soundstages & they would somehow serve as a hommage to the original series' set design. I hope the characters wander through a dusty West Wing filled with cowebs & abandoned rooms filled with forgotten furniture & trunks. Don't you want to finally see Collinwood's library with floor-to-ceiling bookshelves filled with all the world's greatest books? I think the Old House cellar ought to be several levels with Barnabas' coffin at the very bottom & not standing right next to the staircase that comes down into the cellar! If there is a 1795 flashback in the movie - well, aim for Oscars for art direction & costume design. I also hope we'll see something awesome when Barnabas rises from his coffin or when he transforms into a bat! And of course there should be a really awesome thunderstorm with beacoup amounts of thunder, lightning, rain & wind - Barnabas should arrive at Collinwood in a thunderstorm! Let's see a movie that will out-Gothic all previous versions of DS!

[David]

 

Right on, Markyboo!

And when Barnabas stands in the Eagle Hill Cemetery, I want to see the dark sky & moon in the background.
I want to see his cape blowing in the wind, while
the branches of dead trees sway in the moonlight, as crows and bats fly about!

I want to hear the orchestral score build to an orgasmic crescendo as the night fades over Collinwood & the Collins Mausoleum!

David

[David]

And as long as we're filming Gone With the....
uh, I mean Lawrence of....
uh, I mean Dark Shadows,
wouldn't it be ultra cool if 1795 actually went back to 1794, so we could see the first time Barnabas meets Josette & Angelique
on Martinique?

David

[rainingwolf]

wouldn't it be ultra cool if 1795 actually went back to 1794, so we could see the first time Barnabas meets Josette & Angelique
on Martinique?

Yes! Yes! Yes!
 

[retzev]

Mark, David, great stuff.

[jimbo]

 FYI This article might give us an indication on how Tim Burton might film a new DS movie-blood and more blood but who really knows for sure.

http://www.nypost.com/seven/08272007/gossip/pagesix/a_bloody_mess.htm

[Mysterious Benefactor]

The worst thing possible would be for the Depp/DS film to be more of a gore fest than hoDS. Some blood and gore certainly has its place - especially in a vampire film - but something a bit more subtle than what was on display in hoDS is much more suited to DS.

That being said, though, there's a huge possibility that the new film will not be marketed to original fans or even to adults but to the same demographic that 99% of films are marketed to these days: 12 to 25-year-old males. I mean, look at how the original cut for Nicole Kidman's Invasion, which focused more on psychological horror, was rejected because there wasn't enough violence/explosions, and so they added that in reshoots (and in most critic's opinions, ruined the film). So, who knows what the Depp/DS film *might* ultimately end up like? The best we can probably hope for is that it will strike a happy medium...

[David]

Oh God!
I hope they don't ruin DS, lik they ruined
The Invasion.
In two weeks, Invasion's ticket sales have yet to cover Kidman's hefty salary, much less the film's production costs.

Don't the studio suits ever learn???!!!

David

[madscntst]

FYI This article might give us an indication on how Tim Burton might film a new DS movie-blood and more blood but who really knows for sure.

http://www.nypost.com/seven/08272007/gossip/pagesix/a_bloody_mess.htm

As a Depp fan who's been following the news about both DS and Sweeney Todd closely, I'd like to clarify about the above NY Post article.    It was quoting a very dubious recent article in the UK Daily Mail, which has since turned out to be totally false.  There has been no indication that anyone is unhappy with the film Sweeney Todd or wanted these cuts to be made.  From many past interviews with Burton, the film was always going to be rated R.  The subject matter is dark- not only because of the blood but because of the dark events that occurred in the backstory.  I am sure there is going to be a fair amount of blood, but I am envisioning something similar to Sleepy Hollow, which was also rated R and which has a lot of blood but not so much that it took over the movie.  Here is an article from yesterday from Variety, which paints a much more favorable picture of Sweeney Todd and the confidence Dreamworks and Paramount seem to have in it:

http://www.variety.com/VR1117970978.html

All this said, other than Depp's involvement in both films, we don't yet know how Dark Shadows will shape up.  I know folks have speculated that Burton may be called upon to direct, and I think that's possible but really not a given.  Of course, another director might be even more gory!  So we'll just have to wait and see! 

Cathy

[madscntst]

One other thing I should mention about Johnny is that as a producer, he's going to have a lot of creative input into Dark Shadows, and he has never been one to use typical Hollywood formulas for cheap thrills and money-grabs.  Before Pirates Of The Caribbean, he never really had a big blockbuster and was always willing to take risky, unconventional roles.  I don't think he'll shy away from violence, but I don't think he would use violence haphazardly, either.  I hope that as a longtime fan of the show, he'll do right by it!

Cathy

[Gerard]

An epic feel would be great, but I think they would have to be careful not to bite off more than they (or the audience) can chew.  Trying to jam everything, from Vicki's arrival, to who's-this-strange-family-with-all-these-strange-members, to who-are-all-these-townsfolk-and-how-do-they-relate-to-what's-going-on, to Willie Loomis opening things better left closed, to what he let lose causing all sorts of mystery and mayhem, to trying to get to the bottom of it, to going back over two centuries to see what caused all this, to bringing it back home again, all in, say, two-and-a-half-hours might be just a bit too much, even for a filmmaker like Depp.

Maybe it would work better with a Lord-of-the-Rings approach (although I must admit I've never seen any of the movies; there were three, weren't there?).  Plan on doing two films possibly (hopefully the first one will be a critical and commercial smash so investors will give the green light for the second).  Number One can concern itself with modern day goings-on; Number Two with things centuries past.  And if that works out, well, maybe there'll be a Number Three (it could totally center around THE PEN).  Just my two cents (deduct it from the $9.75 the ticket will cost to see it at the megaplex).

Gerard

[jimbo]

One other thing I should mention about Johnny is that as a producer, he's going to have a lot of creative input into Dark Shadows, and he has never been one to use typical Hollywood formulas for cheap thrills and money-grabs.  Before Pirates Of The Caribbean, he never really had a big blockbuster and was always willing to take risky, unconventional roles.  I don't think he'll shy away from violence, but I don't think he would use violence haphazardly, either.  I hope that as a longtime fan of the show, he'll do right by it!

Hi Cathy and thanks for adding some light to the subject article and for the linked article. This makes this matter more fair and balance as they say. It is true that Burton has not been selected as the director for the DS movie and that another director may want even more gore. As MB suggested that the best we can hope for is a happy medium. We don't even know if Burton has shown any interest in directing the DS movie-now that would be a scoop. It will be very interesting to see what Depp's version of a present day DS movie will be. Another poster in another topic indicated the the DS movie may never happen. My take is that Depp would not have bought the rights to film the movie if he was not interested in the franchise plus he would be fulfilling his life long dream in playing the Barnabas character.   I hope Depp films the DS movie sometime in 2008 for an early 2009 release.  Can I also wish for sequels?

[Brandon Collins]

I think much of the speculation about Tim Burton directing centers on and is based from the fact that Depp and Burton are kindred spirits, both feeling as if they are outsiders from the mainstream world. Not to mention the fact that it's widely known, or so I assume anyway, that any film Burton asked Depp to do, Depp would do automatically. So I can only guess that it probably will work the same way if Depp were doing the asking.

I don't really have an quams about Burton directing, because I love what he did with Sleepy Hollow, so if a similiar tone and restraint is used in DS, I think it'll be a masterpiece.

There was a director that sprang into mind just the other day, that I thought would be perfect for the job, but as I"m writing this his name has slipped away.