Depp/Burton DARK SHADOWS Is In Production!!

[Nancy]

Thank you, Madscntst!  Over the years, DS has come up in conversation with friends or acquaintances and many of them, unfamiliar with the show, got their hands on episodes of the original series.  Some were quite amazed by it, and rather excited as it was basically "live television" WYSISYG.  A few others thought it wasn't very good, but most liked it even though they didn't necessarily become devotees.  I am excited by the prospect of new fans coming into the fandom and stirring up the dust a bit.  It's all good.

A case in point for me was my own initial dismissal of the Revival series.  I watched the first few episodes and had some issues with the directing.  As a result, I stopped watching it and just said I didn't like the Revival.  It was through meeting new fans coming into the fandom (and reading posts of Revival fans here) because they loved the Revival that I decided to take a second look.  Well, I developed a different opinion than the first and realized I had not given the Revival a chance to play itself out beyond a handful of episodes.

Nancy  

Nancy, you've made many good points about blooper/skit fans and serious fans- thanks for your thoughtful post.  While waiting for the film, a number of folks from the Depp forums who were previously unfamiliar with DS have started watching via Netflix or Youtube, and many have expressed newfound respect for the show.  So regardless of how the film comes out, I think there are a lot of folks out there who have open minds and are interested in exploring the original series for what it was.

[Gothick]

Just a very short note from someone who became a fan in June-July 1968... I LOVE all the campy, crazy, and bloopery moments on DS.  I don't jump in my seat every time the series is referred to as a "campy" Gothic soap opera (or whatever).  Part of that is because the word "campy" is used so loosely in the US that unless I have first-hand familiarity with the material, I have no idea what, if anything, the writer means by it.  The Susan Sontag essay about Camp from the mid 1960s is an excellent summing-up of the ORIGINAL meaning of Camp during the period when DS was in production, and she attributes some magical, positive value to the concept of Camp. 

I for one will be delighted if the new film makes some witty allusions to some of the moments in the series where they were going for a camp and/or humorous tone.  Contrary to what the stars recall ("we always did it with TOTAL seriousness!!!") it's obvious if you watch carefully that they WERE sometimes having fun, deliberately, with the material.  Just think of the scene where Carl first meets Barnabas in 1897.  LOVE that kind of thing.  Or Julia's response when Barnabas informs her he's had a "talk" with Megan. 

I'm actually wondering if the tone will at times be more reminiscent of a Saturday Night Live skit on DS... if so, then I will be disappointed.  As others have said, I am holding back judgements or expectations until the movie actually comes out, however.

G.

[David]

 

Larry King makes another one night return to CNN on October 16, when he interviews Johnny Depp.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

More comments from Chloe Moretz:

Chloe Moretz Is Perfectly Comfortable with Her Dark Side

I'm particularly intrigued by her remark that in the beginning we're going to be questioning what Carolyn is up to. Though we may have actually had some clues already as to what she's up to...

211 days 8 hours 38 minutes 48 seconds until the day the Depp/Burton Dark Shadows is released(ET)!!

[madscntst]

According to this article on examiner.com, DS *will* be one of the topics covered on the Larry King interview this Sunday:

http://www.examiner.com/culture-events-in-national/larry-king-talks-to-johnny-depp-about-new-hunter-s-thompson-film

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Excellent news.    Thanks for posting the link to the article. 

211 days 4 hours 30 minutes 34 seconds until the day the Depp/Burton Dark Shadows is released(ET)!!

[Taeylor Collins]

I personally beleive they made Carolyn younger is if the series becomes a franchise then then they can use storylines as she grows up.  Also do we know if the cast also signed contracts for anymore future movies??? I know the cast of THE AVENGERS signed a conract to be in five movies!

Great to be back you guys! Missed you all!

[madscntst]

I missed you too, Taeylor!   I haven't heard anything about the cast signing contracts, but that's an interesting question.  If not, maybe if this film is successful they can try to get a commitment before proceeding on any future films.  I know that Zanuck has said something about a franchise, but I haven't actually heard that from Depp or Burton, but we'll see!  Re. the 5 movie Avengers contract, I hadn't heard that but that is quite a commitment!  Especially considering that most of them probably signed contracts for their own stand-alone films.  Yikes.

For what it's worth, tonight is the Rum Diary premiere at the LA County Museum of Art.  I'm not sure if there will be any red carpet interview snippets of Johnny, but we'll see!

[michael c]

I personally believe they made Carolyn younger is if the series becomes a franchise then then they can use storylines as she grows up.

i also think that one of the reasons they decided to make carolyn a much younger character is to differentiate her more from vicki. given the perimeters of a two hour movie there's not really enough material to support two characters as close in age as vicki and carolyn were in the television series'. so by creating this age gap they can be more delineated characters. probably for this same reason maggie evans is not on the canvas at all.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

It's good to have you back, Taeylor.   And it would be very interesting to know if the stars had signed contracts for multiple films. Like madscntst, I've never seen anything about that. But then, with the way the lid has been kept so tightly on so much surrounding the film, I'm not surprised. I'm just grateful that we've been able to learn as much as we have so far.

And speaking of Depp appearances, ever since shooting wrapped I've been DVRing several of the entertainment shows just in case anything about DS pops up. Nothing on that front so far, but apparently Depp will be appearing on tonight's installment of Entertainment Tonight. Well, unless more news about Ashton and Demi or the Michael Jackson trial bumps him because, with that show, a segment of Depp promoting a movie couldn't possibly hope to compete with that sort of gossip.    Though chances are if Depp is on, they'll be focusing more on The Rum Diary than anything else...

210 days 10 hours 47 minutes 39 seconds until the day the Depp/Burton Dark Shadows is released(ET)!!

[madscntst]

^^^Getting a teensy bit off topic (wrt the film, anyway), but a few clips from the latest Depp interviews have been popping up on the net, and some keen eyes have noticed that Johnny has a new tattoo on the back of his right arm, that looks like an I Ching symbol, which sleuths have now concluded that he obtained last Friday along with Damien Echols (of the West Memphis Three).  I'm pretty sure the tattoo doesn't have to do with DS directly, but that didn't stop me from making the connection, anyway!  "The hexagram of change!"

Thanks for the tip about Entertainment Tonight, MB- I usually watch Jeopardy at that time if I am home from work, but I'll make sure to tune in tonight 

[madscntst]

Here is a tiny snippet from an MTV interview with Johnny, speaking about his choice of look for DS.  Hopefully it will allay some folks' fears:

http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1672481/johnny-depp-dark-shadows.jhtml

[Cousin_Barnabas]

That actually makes a lot of sense. 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Well I just finished watching ET and I see that Depp was not on. Who knows? But Nancy O'Dell definitely interviewed him yesterday because there's a photo on ET's Facebook page of the two of them posing together. Apparently the interview will show up at some later time.

Interestingly enough, though, Depp was on Extra tonight where he was asked about The Rum Diary, the possibility of more Pirates, and The Lone Ranger - basically everything but DS.    But he will also be on again Friday night, so we'll see...

209 days 23 hours 14 minutes 25 seconds until the day the Depp/Burton Dark Shadows is released(ET)!!

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Here is a tiny snippet from an MTV interview with Johnny, speaking about his choice of look for DS.  Hopefully it will allay some folks' fears:

Very interesting. Thanks so much for the link. 

9 days 23 hours 6 minutes 27 seconds until the day the Depp/Burton Dark Shadows is released(ET)!!