Depp/Burton DARK SHADOWS Is In Production!!

[Mysterious Benefactor]

My copy of HorrorHound #34 came just a short while ago. Needless to say, I haven't had the chance to read it yet - and I won't get that chance until later today. But just to furnish the barest of details, the DS film is covered in 3 pages, the DS retrospective takes 8 pages, and an article on DC fills 2 pages, so there's a lot of DS. Unfortunately, while I was flipping through, I did notice one error in the DS retrospective. But then, sadly, when was the last time there was a DS article that didn't contain errors. Ultimately, the fact that no one seems to ever be able to get everything right is just a fact that we have to live with...

But anyway, I'll give an overall impression of the coverage later on. And if there's anything that stands out as really interesting, I'll certainly post about it later, too. 

66 days 11 hours 22 minutes 36 seconds until the day the Depp/Burton Dark Shadows is released(ET)!!

[Mysterious Benefactor]

In fact, as I think about it, maybe what KLS should've done would be to publicize the book by voluntarily showing a very small low resolution photo, perhaps with a Pomegranate Press watermark, of one or more of those photos, on one of those comic book sites, or even Entertainment Weekly.  This would really get the info out there that her book would contain images from the new movie, and at the same time she would have a platform to announce that there were newly found photos from the OS as well.  In other words, get the word out there to the more mainstream audience who might not know about the book because they aren't visiting DS boards.  And if folks only had a tiny photo to look at, they could decide whether they'd want to get the book to be able to look at the "real thing."  Just my $.02.

I agree, madscntst. But unfortunately that's not what KLS thought to do, and now she finds herself in the situation that she does, particularly with at least a handful of Web sites believing the photos originated from Warner Brothers rather than her book. But then, with so few sites crediting the book, I suppose it's a logical assumption for them to have made. Though somehow I suspect that doesn't lessen whatever smarting she might feel due to their mistaken impression...

66 days 11 hours 12 minutes 52 seconds until the day the Depp/Burton Dark Shadows is released(ET)!!

[Uncle Roger]

 

This is an article everyone should read:

Very interesting article. While we have seen a bit more promotional material, there is still very little indication of what kind of movie this is going to be. There's always danger in overpublicizing a film--Snakes on a Plane--is a good example. I would have liked to have seen the logo, accompanied by the iconic theme, with a tag line like "Dark Shadows--you only think you know it."

[Phil]

New pics:
http://www.collinsporthistoricalsociety.com/2012/03/new-photos-from-dark-shadows-film.html

[Mysterious Benefactor]

OH MY!! Thanks so much for the link, Phil! 

I've been dying for a glimpse of the foyer ever since we first read about it months and months ago - and at last it's come. And the shot of Barnabas and Willie plus the one of Liz are fantastic as well!

66 days 10 hours 17 minutes 56 seconds until the day the Depp/Burton Dark Shadows is released(ET)!!

[madscntst]

Awesome!!  I love the look of the house, and it's great to finally see a still of Willie!  I'm hoping that the photos will surface at a faster pace from now on.  Now, we just need the trailer 

[Phil]

The Barnabas and Willie shot are the first shot since the Entertainment Weekly group photo that gives you a sense of the "world". And the color palette looking so different from the shot of the foyer/staircase - maybe there's an Old House after all?

[jimbo]

Thanks Phil for the wonderful find.
I do hope there is an Old House and that the family is unaware of Barnabas' secret. It seems so far that BC is out in the open with his curse.

Even GK Films linked an article on FB to Dreadcentral which contains KLS uncredited material.

[KMR]

I do hope ... that the family is unaware of Barnabas' secret. It seems so far that BC is out in the open with his curse.

I strongly doubt that Barnabas is "out" to the whole family in this film. The way that the people with most creative authority for this project (Johnny Depp, Tim Burton, Seth Grahame-Smith) have talked about it, they want to be as true as possible to the overall tone and characters of the original series.  To have the whole family know Barnabas' secret would seem to end up making it very different.  Perhaps it could work, but it would be a plot element straying very far from the original source.

[KMR]

The Barnabas and Willie shot are the first shot since the Entertainment Weekly group photo that gives you a sense of the "world". And the color palette looking so different from the shot of the foyer/staircase - maybe there's an Old House after all?

Or maybe it could be an abandoned wing of the house?  It was not uncommon for houses to be added onto over the years (for example, both of the houses used in House of Dark Shadows had been greatly expanded since their initial construction).

I think that shot of Barnabas and Willie is the most gorgeous image I've seen out of those released, and does seem to come closest to getting the dark gothic feel of DS.

[KMR]

I've been dying for a glimpse of the foyer ever since we first read about it months and months ago - and at last it's come.

That foyer seems to me to get dangerously close to being over the top.  But then again, it's not all that far off from some things you see in some of the Newport "cottages".

[Mysterious Benefactor]

By many of the Newport Mansions' standards, it's positively subdued.    There isn't a crystal chandelier, a slab of marble, or a piece of gilded gold in sight. Though it is dark and very Gothic in feel and architecture, which is what I love. I can't wait to see more of it - especially in the film.

Now, something that might be over the top is that entryway that Barnabas and Willie are standing in. From the sea shells, to the fish, to the god Poseidon/Neptune himself, replete with pitchfork - wow. Though don't get me wrong, I love it. And we have no idea what the location even is, so...

66 days 8 hours 10 minutes 18 seconds until the day the Depp/Burton Dark Shadows is released(ET)!!

[Phil]

You can tell from Barnabas' face it's the ancestral home; and the sets have been over the top in every pic since that group photo (check out the ceilings in that one). And I recall a quote from a production designer saying that all teh interior design has some sort of seaside or maritime theme (seahorse chandeliers, etc.).

[Gothick]

Yeah.  Don't forget that some of the squiddlies, seahorses, cthuloids, etc. come to life periodically through the magic of CGI.

I was afraid that the Burton/Depp version of Collinwood was going to be a baroque nightmare of cluttered claustrophic horror-vacui, but so far I like most of what I'm seeing.

G.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

I don't honestly think there's much that's over the top about the room in which the cast photo was taken (which I'm presuming may be the drawing room). It has a vaulted ceiling, which is typical in Gothic architecture. And like I said when we first saw the photo, I love the look of that room and can't wait to see more it. In fact, I can't wait to see more of Collinwood, period - both inside and out. 

66 days 7 hours 51 minutes 40 seconds until the day the Depp/Burton Dark Shadows is released(ET)!!