Depp/Burton DARK SHADOWS Is In Production!!

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Seeing the amount of anxiety that exists for some DS fans about this movie, I'm curious how some of the tweaks were perceived among longtime fans when the 1991 series first aired.  For example, were there debates about the changes to Maggie's character (the affair with Roger, her being a psychic) at festivals?  I realize the internet and message boards didn't exist to whip emotions into a frenzy, but I don't remember this amount of trepidation for anything Dark Shadows in the past.

Oh yes - reaction to the '91 DS was quite similar to what we're seeing today with the Depp DS film. It's just that it was played out in the various fanzines of the time rather than on the Internet. And it was often just as intense.

Nothing that's going on with this film is new for fandom...

15 days 23 hours 9 minutes 46 seconds until the day the Depp/Burton Dark Shadows is released(ET)!!

[Cousin_Barnabas]

Well, the Angelique's breasts bit is certainly overt, but the "biggest and most wonderful balls" remark is not. And as with the panties sequence, I do honestly think it's in keeping with Angelique character. It's taken to a more explicit place than we've previously seen - but it is well within character. And I have no problem with it being more explicit. Some of the stuff in the '91 DS was more explicit than the original show - and it's pretty much only to be expected things would be more explicit in a film.

See I was fine with everything in 1991, because it was serious.  (I actually love the 1991 series and watch it every year.)  Granted, it may have been a little too serious at times, but some of this is just plain silly.  I don't mind things being overt as long as there is a justifiable reason.  The panties thing (as much as I don't like it in Dark Shadows) is fine.  I get that it's in character for Angelique.  The "biggest balls" comment just kind of falls into the same category as the "boob joke" for me.  They're both coming from Barnabas, and I don't particularly care for him saying those things.  And the more that Barnabas says these silly things (knowingly or unknowingly), the less happy I am with this characterization and the project as a whole.  I think we all know I was hoping for these types of comments to be minimized (They could still be, but this marketing is not helping me believe that).  Based on these commercials alone, if this project weren't called Dark Shadows, I wouldn't even bat an eye:  It would be a definite "must miss" film for me.  I was giving it a lot of leeway because I wanted to like it for the sake of our beloved show.  (I may still.)  But if something mind-blowingly fantastic doesn't pop up in the next few weeks, I'm probably going to sit the first weekend out.  My excitement has dwindled and my hope is being chipped away.   

I really, really like the score, and would be all over it if it were for a new project that wasn't based on a previous series where the music was as big of a character as the main vampire.  Elfman's score is pretty fantastic, but it's nowhere near as beautiful as Bob Cobert's music for the 1991 series.  And without the main theme, it just ends up falling flat as a score for Dark Shadows imo.  I can enjoy it on its own, but the main theme (since we aren't getting Quentin's or Josette's) is really that important to me.  Bob Cobert could have scored this thing with all new music and if he didn't include at least one of the classic themes, I'd have said the same thing.  To be honest, I don't really need the Dark Shadows theme song in every Dark Shadows project.  (I love NoDS and it doesn't have it.)  But I need, at least, one of Cobert's main musical elements.  Without one, it's like calling something Dark Shadows and not having a house called Collinwood.  It's that important to me. And if I find out that it's in there, I'll be at the movie opening weekend for sure - no matter how many corny jokes Barnabas makes.   

[Uncle Roger]

Reaction to the 1991 series was just as severe when it came out. A lot of fans simply loathed it because it was different. It wasn't perfect. But there were several things about it that were as good or even better than the original series. I am trying to approach this movie with an open mind. If it's good, it will give me something to talk about. If it's bad, it will give me more to talk about.

[Taeylor Collins]

I look at the "balls" joke this way; Barnabas is dead serious. He doesn't think like the  minds of the people of the 70's. He isn't saying it as a joke as far as I can tell. He is saying it in all seriousness. It's us the audience and the people of 1972 who are taking it as funny.  So for me there is nothing out of character for Barnabas saying that. He is truly talking about the grand gatherings the Collins Famlies had; not an appendage! So in essence we are the ones laughing at this man who is totally out of his time....

I came to DS through the Revival so of course I loved it.  I thought Maggie was much more interesting in the 1991 version for me.  After she was turned into a OS Victoria clone I never cared for Maggie again. So when I compare them I think the 1991 Maggie is much more intriguing. I loved that she was pshychic and having an affair with Roger and that she was in the know about Laura. I thought that was some great cool inventive writing. And it was great way to keep Maggie in the serious after Victoria became the reincarnation of Josette. Just my thoughts of course....

[retzev]

Say a snippet of Cobert's score is heard incidentally, barely noticeable, a television on in the background airing an episode of original series DS, for instance. With the idea of parallel time in mind, is there any way a scenario like this could play without sucking big wonderful balls?

[Cousin_Barnabas]

retzev...




 

That would make me very sad.  I'd get my wish, but not exactly how I was hoping... 

Allow me to rephrase...  I want Cobert's theme in the actual film score.     There... now the magic wishing lamp will not screw me over...  I hope.   

I look at the "balls" joke this way; Barnabas is dead serious... So in essence we are the ones laughing at this man who is totally out of his time....

Oh I get that, Taeylor.  But, like I said, knowingly or unknowingly, I feel that Barnabas needs to avoid making and being the butt of such jokes as these...   

[Gerard]

I don't think this link has been posted here yet.  There are some very nice pics.

http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/dark-shadows/photos/dark-shadows-stills-slideshow-1810188255/#crsl=%252Fmovie%252Fdark-shadows%252Fphotos%252Fdark-shadows-stills-slideshow-1810188255%252Fdark-shadows-2012-warner-bros-pictures-photo-1334608045.html

Gerard

[IluvBarnabas]

I'm one of the few people who never really warmed up to the 1991 revival...I had people accusing me of not being a true DS fan, for which I resented (not talking about anyone on here, just people I know and speak to face to face). I respect the opinions of those who did enjoy the revival and would just appreciate that they would show me the same curtosy. I'll just always prefer the original show...but that's just my opinion.

I did at least give the revival a chance before I formed any opinions about it. I want to do the same with the movie. I might loathe the movie with a passion, or I might really really like it.

The movie's success shouldn't depend on whether or not Colbert's score is in it...it should be based on the acting and how the story plays out. I wouldn't mind seeing some of the original score on the soundtrack but honestly it's not a big deal for me if it isn't.

Just my two cents.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

With regard to the humor in the film in general, I and others have theorized based on things we've read or read between the lines in a few different articles that it may have been something Warner Brothers pushed for to get the film made - and the more articles I read, the more I'm thinking that could have indeed been the case. In one of the most recent articles (sorry that I can't check which one exactly because I've lent all the recent magazines I've purchased (with the exception of Fangoria, which is set aside in its bag in a drawer  ) to a friend - though I think it's Total Film) Burton actually goes so far as to say that initially the film was a tough sell with Warner Brothers and that he also got notes from them that things were  too dark - and he makes the latter comment in such a way as to suggest that Warner Brothers could have asked for changes. Add to that that Seth Grahame-Smith was brought in to add humor to the script and the fact that Warner Brothers is emphasizing the humor in the film above everything else in every trailer and TV spot and the evidence for that theory being true would certainly seem to be mounting.

Would I have preferred a film with less humor? Probably? Would I have preferred no film rather than a film with humor? Too hard to answer without having see the film yet. But will the humor necessarily ruin the film? I'm not so sure - particularly because I do enjoy a good deal of the humor that I'm seeing in the trailers and TV spots- and one can't ignore that DC himself brought more overt humor to DS with the '91 DS. So I suppose for me what will make or break the film is how much of a flavor of DS it has both apart from the humor and within its humor. And if enough flavor is there, I'll probably have no trouble accepting it as DS. And I am seeing hinting flavors of DS in the trailers and TV spots, so that gives me hope that I will enjoy the film on its own terms and as something that does resemble DS. Not DS as we've seen it before. But DS nonetheless. Though I won't know that for sure until I've actually seen the finished film for myself...

15 days 12 hours 30 minutes 52 seconds until the day the Depp/Burton Dark Shadows is released(ET)!!

[David]

Hopefully Entertainment Tonight will also tip it's hat to Mr. Frid

[jimbo]

I don't know what to think. Every time I think it will get serious we hear a bad joke.

Hopefully we will see a lot more tonight. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9wdUfjnEvE

[jimbo]

Hopefully Entertainment Tonight will also tip it's hat to Mr. Frid

Let's hope so.

[KMR]

To be honest, I don't really need the Dark Shadows theme song in every Dark Shadows project.  (I love NoDS and it doesn't have it.)  But I need, at least, one of Cobert's main musical elements.  Without one, it's like calling something Dark Shadows and not having a house called Collinwood.  It's that important to me.

From what I've heard in the snippets made available, Elfman's score is packed with Cobert's style, and some of Cobert's themes are used verbatim.  There is way, way, way more of Cobert than I had even dreamed there'd be.

Personally, I'm not all that terribly fond of the DS main title theme, so I won't miss it.  But I can understand how someone else would feel completely differently.  (For myself, I'm hoping that Cue #2 will show up somewhere!)  But if the music that's there works, then I'm happy.

I'm reminded of when I first saw HODS back in 1970.  I went with my cousin to see it, and she was asking if they'd be using the DS theme in the movie.  I said they probably wouldn't, figuring that this was a new work, not the TV series, and there'd probably be all new music, but she disagreed.  My cousin sat in the row in front of me, and right after the lion roared and the DS theme came on, she turned around and gave me a "Told you so!" smirk.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Hopefully we will see a lot more tonight.

Thanks so much for tracking down and posting the link to the ET promo, jimbo.    I wasn't sure if I was going to get it myself because I've been having trouble with the channel I record ET on occasionally going off for some odd reason before ET comes on at midnight and not coming back before it repeats at 4am (a wonderful feature of my DVR is that it automatically searches for a repeat showing and schedules a recording on its own if there was a problem recording it the first time around). But I just checked and I did get it last night. And whoever posted that video on YouTube conveniently left off the intro and the comments they made afterward, so I suppose that means I'll have to post our own version of it (well, if my video creating software cooperates  ).

Tonight I'll be recording the show at 6pm on a completely different channel just to make sure there aren't any problems. 

15 days 11 hours 24 minutes 44 seconds until the day the Depp/Burton Dark Shadows is released(ET)!!

[RachelDrummand]

Reaction to the 1991 series was just as severe when it came out. A lot of fans simply loathed it because it was different. It wasn't perfect. But there were several things about it that were as good or even better than the original series. I am trying to approach this movie with an open mind. If it's good, it will give me something to talk about. If it's bad, it will give me more to talk about.

One could compare the new movie to that; however, the 1991 was a faithful adaptation with Dan Curtis at the helm. From what I've seen of the trailers, the movie is too comedic and doesn't have the same spirit at all. That's just my opinion of course but it's how I feel. I don't think one can adequately compare the 1991 series to this film since despite a few changes in regards to the original, the revival was a lush, Gothic romance and not a mockery that movie appears to be.