Depp/Burton DARK SHADOWS Is In Production!!

[madscntst]

MB do you see the name of the actor and character on top of each picture? Is that what you are not seeing? they do enlarge greatly at Empire.

Really? I clicked on them and all I got was a bunch of product ads with even tinier versions of the posters.    I'll have to try again later.

MB, I think the problem was that the posters took a long time to load.  I got the product ads, too, but then after awhile the poster loaded.  The tiny versions of the posters were actually the "next" or "previous" images and not the main ones.  At any rate, thanks jimbo for providing an alternate link- those ads can sometimes be really annoying!

[Mysterious Benefactor]

I just got a tweet on my phone from GK Films about the new posters. And apparently the new Twitter hashtag people are supposed to use for the film is #strangeisrelative.

51 days 8 hours 51 minutes 52 seconds until the day the Depp/Burton Dark Shadows is released(ET)!!

[Cousin_Barnabas]

I suppose I am more surprised at the willingness to judge what a two hour plus movie will be based on the trailer, scenes and sound bites which are taken completely out of context. 

But it's not as simple as that: as others have said, SGS and Jim Pierson have both stated that the trailer is an accurate portrayal of the type of movie Shadows is.  They could be trying to please the suits, and not turn off movie-goers who like the trailer.  But, I found both of their comments had a slightly derogatory tone towards fans who wanted something different.  And I was none too pleased with our show being compared to "sit[ting] through the organ music of a two hour chamber piece."  While I'd find listening to that enjoyable, you can tell SGS would not, and that is his analogy for the original source material.  Not exactly comforting to have a guy writing the screenplay who finds a faithful adaptation to be a drudgery of an experience.    You don't have to be a fan to write a great screenplay, but I was hoping for less "spoof-esque comedy" in the film and more of a "grand and faithful-in-tone re-envisioning."  And I am not seeing a way to have both based on the scenes from this trailer, but I could be pleasantly surprised, as stated at the end of my last post.   

My uncle Valdemar, the one who introduced me to DS many moons ago, watched the trailer and was very unhappy and disappointed with it.   

And I think that's the hardest part for me.  I can't bear to show this trailer to the person who introduced me to DS...  I got them all excited about the film, and I just know how disappointing this trailer will be to them.  And I wanted to take this person to the film on opening weekend as a special "thank you" for bringing this show into my life.  That's why I am hoping for another trailer, one this person can appreciate...  And, of course, a final film that can also be appreicated.

I don't honestly feel betrayed or duped - if anything I feel confused. And the current reason for that is that despite several people describing what they saw at the test screening as a comedy, there are still denials coming from people closely involved...  If we can go by everything that's still being said, there would seem to be more to it than what we're seeing in the trailer. However, there is no doubt that Burton and Depp enjoy spoofing DS and pointing out the absurdity of its situations...

Yes.  I feel this as well.  That is why I am holding out hope for something different from another trailer and the final film, despite the other things I have heard and read.   

Another wow! I love them. Though I wish we could see larger versions so that we could read what they say at the tops of them.

They are so fantastic!  They actually name the actors and the characters at the top.  But, if you click on them and wait a few minutes, they will load in full resolution! 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Something that we need to remember when it comes to Seth Grahame-Smith is that, if we can go by the comments that he made to Web sites like The Hollywood Reporter, he didn't write an entirely new script - he tweaked what John August had already written. And like I've said, the film was already being described as funny before Grahame-Smith came on board, so it wasn't his decision not to do a faithful adaptation. That decision had already been made long before he came on the film.

51 days 8 hours 38 minutes 7 seconds until the day the Depp/Burton Dark Shadows is released(ET)!!

[Phil]

Something that we need to remember when it comes to Seth Grahame-Smith is that, if we can go by the comments that he made to Web sites like The Hollywood Reporter, he didn't write an entirely new script - he tweaked what John August had already written.

Certainly he's a hired gun executing the producer and director's wishes, but it was probably a ground floor rewrite, otherwise August would likely still have a union-mandated credit on the film.

[Cousin_Barnabas]

That is what I am figuring.  And I can't help but feel that a number of these jokes are a result of his sense of humor...  And, like you said, MB, if the whole movie is comprised of them, it's certainly going to be a different type of DS. 

[Nancy]

Where I am having a disconnect with some of the discussions here about the "tone" of the trailer is calling it a "parody" or "spoof."  I did not get that from the trailer.  If the story is about Barnabas helping out the modern day Collins family while still dealing with Angelique (I'm simplifying the storyline we've been given) how is that a spoof or a parody?  If indeed the humor we saw in the trailer is throughout the film against the backdrop of gothic horror, the humor seems to be directly as a result of what is happening at the moment.  No, I don't see the Barnabas we know making some of the remarks the Depp Barnabas does, but it is not making fun of the character or a parody of the series.  It's a character reaction.

The characters are going to be different in some ways from the ones we know, that's a given.  I can handle that. 

Maybe my idea of a spoof or parody differs.  Obviously, I could be wrong but I did not see any of those things in the trailer.  I saw humor and an alternate DS world. 

[Richard]

A different type of Dark Shadows?

It's not Dark Shadows at all.

Outwardly, it uses the names and iconography. Inwardly, it is an exercise in contempt.


Richard

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Given what Grahame-Smith has said, the credit does seem a bit strange in that John August is only given a story credit but Grahame-Smith has said that he was brought in just to tweak Barnabas. But the Writers Guild of America has very odd rules that deal with percentages and all sorts of things (the rules are linked to somewhere on the forum - probably the previous film topic that was started by Darren), so know knows...

51 days 8 hours 3 minutes 45 seconds until the day the Depp/Burton Dark Shadows is released(ET)!!

[Nancy]

I will also say one thing as Jim Pierson has come up here.  It's been stated that he is in all this for the money.  I have known Jim since 1986.   One thing he is not is money-hungry.  That is simply not true.  He does what a marketing person and freelance producer does, including putting spin on things, yes.  He also represents the wishes of the Dan Curtis Estate, having also had the experience of working directly for Dan Curtis since about 1989 until Curtis' death. 

I would love to be able to tell you many things Jim has professionally and personally done for people that put him out of pocket or at least diverted his chances for making little or nothing off a deal.  Because of confidences, I cannot.  Everyone has their faults but being money hungry isn't one of Jim's shortcomings.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

the humor seems to be directly as a result of what is happening at the moment ... it is not making fun of the character or a parody of the series.  It's a character reaction.

That's what many of the latest interviews have stressed. The humor in the film doesn't make fun of the characters, it's character driven and coming from the situations in the film. And I can see that in the trailers.

51 days 7 hours 56 minutes 44 seconds until the day the Depp/Burton Dark Shadows is released(ET)!!

[Nancy]

Why are there fans who think they are the Dark Shadows intellectual property police? Isn't it rather presumptious for anyone to be dictating to the family and colleagues of Dan Curtis, who knew him well what they should or should not do with his creative work?  They knew what he wanted.  For any of us to say Curtis would not like this is really over the top . . . we have no way of knowing that and the those who actually knew and worked for the man are better judges, don't you think?

[Cousin_Barnabas]

Where I am having a disconnect with some of the discussions here about the "tone" of the trailer is calling it a "parody" or "spoof."  I did not get that from the trailer. 

I think MB said it best:

However, there is no doubt that Burton and Depp enjoy spoofing DS and pointing out the absurdity of its situations and they haven't kept that fact a secret because all one need do is watch the videos from their appearance on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross to see it. Initially that interview frightened me to all hell - but I put those fears aside as others and more significantly Depp made more reassuring comments. But apparently the attitude toward DS that they expressed on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross is just as much a part of the film as those reassuring comments might be. And I've come to make my peace with that and am still trying to keep an open mind.

That is how I see it. 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Though I didn't mean to imply that Burton and Depp have created a parody of DS with the film. I simply meant that some of the things they enjoy about DS are things like how the flies land on or harass certain actors, which is something that Burton specifically cited in his comments on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross. They're in the camp that enjoys that sort of thing and probably many of the other bloopers. They get a laugh out of it and the absurdity of some of the show's situations, while many of us for the most part just tend to ignore things like the bloopers.

51 days 7 hours 33 minutes 23 seconds until the day the Depp/Burton Dark Shadows is released(ET)!!

[Cousin_Barnabas]

Oh, I know that is what you meant.  And that is how I see this exaggerated comedy fitting in, which, to me, comes down to spoofing situations in the original series.  And I think that is the only way I will be able to enjoy those components of the film, as a commentary on the original.