Depp/Burton DARK SHADOWS Is In Production!!

That is also true MB. I just don't really know what to say at this point. I am not impressed with WB's synopsis and from what we have been hearing about the story too date. I just hope that somehow TB and company are merely trying to keep us completely off guard and the finished product is going to be different from what has been perhaps intentionally fed to us.

Regarding the family knowing BC's secret -- the person who described the trailer mentioned a scene in which BC walks into Collinwood and says, [spoiler]"I'm a vampire."[/spoiler]. 

Assuming that is true, then the family must be aware of his curse. 

I speculate that [spoiler]the family tolerates (even protects) a vampire in the family,[/spoiler] because they are down-and-out, and BC offers to return them to wealth somehow.  That in itself is a play on the "me generation."  Meaning, the family is so self-centered they accept his help, despite the horrors.

I hope I am wrong, but that's my guess.

If, in this iteration of the story, the family knows that Barnabas is a vampire, that would explain why nobody seems shocked at those awful talons Depp is sporting. Otherwise, ignoring those would have strained even the Collinses' credulity.

I don't know how much we can take from the description of the consumer survey's trailer because, as KMR pointed out:

It's important to bear in mind that it is very common for trailers and TV series promos to have brief clips of dialog strung together totally out of context, giving the impression of plot points that are actually very different from what is in the real story.

Julia's question, Barnabas' response, and Roger's reaction could be taken from three completely different scenes for all we know. Though even if they are from the same scene and they're actually seen in sequence in the film in the same way as they appear in the consumer survey's tailer, that still doesn't necessarily mean that the family believes Barnabas is literally a vampire. They could take his remark to mean he's metaphorically a vampire, just as many businessmen might describe themselves. And considering how Roger's character is supposed to be in the film, that would excite him, which would explain his reaction if it does indeed come from the same scene.

And as for Barnabas' nails, well, he could explain them as an affectation he picked up while living and/or doing business in China. The long nails of characters are often explained away that way, and not just with characters of Chinese nationality.

Actually, there are probably many ways Barnabas' pallor and nails could be explained in the film. Though whether the film uses any of them is anyone's guess at this point. The only way we might finally know is when we finally see the film for ourselves...

75 days 7 hours 25 minutes 46 seconds until the day the Depp/Burton Dark Shadows is released(ET)!!

wait a minute...

i feel like we're playing telephone. WHERE is everyone getting the idea that the entire family knows barnabas is a vampire?

this feels like an unsubstantiated rumor run amok.

It comes from attempting to interpret part of the description of a consumer survey trailer that a member of the forum over on superherohype.com posted on February 20th. Here's a link to the page on the forum where the post appears:

Tim Burton's Dark Shadows

Scroll down to post #592 and open the spoiler if you want to read the description of the entire trailer - or simply check out the spoiler below for the description of the pertinent sequence:

[spoiler]Depp goes to the Collins Mansion and meets his family. Helena Bonham Carter's character says "Who the hell is this?" Depp replies "I am a vampire madam" Jonny Lee Miller's character says "Yeah".[/spoiler]

One thing I never realized until I read the actual posts (as opposed to how the descriptions are presented on other Web sites) is that the guy posting seems to have seen two separate trailers on two separate occasions about 30 minutes apart. Certainly possible, but how odd does that seem? Though perhaps he paused the survey after he saw the first trailer and posted about it only to discover the second trailer after he'd resumed the survey. ... Who knows?

75 days 6 hours 28 minutes 10 seconds until the day the Depp/Burton Dark Shadows is released(ET)!!

This is the translated synopsis from the French version of Wikipedia, which was just updated today...

This film chronicles the misadventures of the Collins family fantasy, living in the vast and sinister mansion Collinwood, and one of whose leading members is the dreaded vampire Barnabas.

Angelique Bouchard, his servant also a witch, is in love. Revenge, because if last the regrowth, it made him a vampire and buried alive. Two hundred years later, in 1972, Barnabas is freed from his tomb and try to find Angelique. Transformed, it has become a formidable businesswoman. The vampire is going to get used to his new life in the house where he had lived 200 years earlier, and whose inhabitants are Elizabeth and Roger Collins and their children as well as the mysterious Victoria Winters. But Barnabas will meet with the doctor in the house: Julia. She only knows where Angelique. The vampire reveals his history, and nature and asks for help. Julia will be his faithful accomplice and under the eye of Collins, it will do everything to help him find Angelique so he can take revenge ...

This is interesting.

It should also be noted that Sir Christopher Lee is not listed as playing Billy Malloy, but rather the cemetery's caretaker.  So who knows how much of this is accurate.  But it is an interesting take...

Interesting all around. Though the article in Empire Magazine includes a description of Lee's character from Seth Grahame-Smith that says he's "a sort of fisherman" who spends a lot of time in the local pub, The Blue Whale. That sounds much more like Bill Malloy than It does the caretaker.

Something else that's interesting: in the topic on superherohype.com and on the page after the posts containing the trailer descriptions, I just read where ross2287 posted:

"Visually, as far as colour palette goes, it's rather drab. Think of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory before they enter the factory. As far as the serious moments in the trailer, they seemed to take themselves appropriately seriously. Again, it's a trailer but it seems like there will be a balance."

75 days 5 hours 0 minutes 9 seconds until the day the Depp/Burton Dark Shadows is released(ET)!!

That guy who posted the first trailer review and whose topic had been deleted, recently posted at that other board that he faced a fine of $250,000 if he uploaded a photo or video of the trailer. He was wondering why his topic got deleted while the second reviewer's post still remains or words to that effect. I do like the second reviewer's most recent comment re: seriousness

I just had a look at the French Wikipedia article and it actually says that Angelique turned Barn into a vampire when she fell in love with him and he rejected her.

I'll spare you my rant about automated translation utilities.

G.

Haha, G.  I knew that it wasn't because he had a regrowth!     Thanks for making that clearer. 

What is this?

https://twitter.com/#!/Helenalicious/status/172369660283600896/photo/1

A real poster?  A fake poster?  The date is off by a month...  I don't know what to think...  That's a Barnabas shadow blocking light from hitting the family portrait.

It's a fake.  Found it on DeviantArt.  But it is pretty cool looking nonetheless. 

But it is pretty cool looking nonetheless.

Yes, I do like that. Excellent work by HELENAIST ^ᴥ^.

Thanks for sharing it, Cousin_Barnabas. 

74 days 11 hours 15 minutes 2 seconds until the day the Depp/Burton Dark Shadows is released(ET)!!

Of course!  Too bad it's not official.     But who knows...  Maybe something will come out this Friday with what looks to be one of the most terrible movies ever released to theaters...

http://www.warnerbros.com/movies/in-theaters-coming-soon/project-x/91eeea2b-c86c-409e-9ff0-c9548dc2dd3c.html

I can't imagine Warners attaching a DS trailer to it, but that might explain why we have been hearing about so much comedy...  We shall wait and see.