Depp/Burton DARK SHADOWS Is In Production!!

[Brandon Collins]

I just saw the trailer on television! It just aired during Once Upon a Time, approximately 48 minutes into the program. It was pretty  much the same trailer, but with a few slight angle differences in the scenes we've seen already. And Alice Cooper appears at the end.

[Gerard]

I still think people are making way too much out of this. 

First, there's the talk of Dan Curtis' "vision."  Well, he betrayed that with the '91 remake.  With a huge budget, huge sets, and a few big-name stars (mostly miscast, save for Jean Simmons), bad writing, et. al., it was not the DS those of us who grew up with remembered.  Still, because it was DS, I enjoyed it.  I was saddened by its cancellation.  We have folks here who did not like HoDS (and NoDS).  They consider HoDS Hammeresque exploitation and their stomachs rumble when they see it.  That was also Dan Curtis "vision," and we have DS fans who feel betrayed by it.  And those of us who grew up with, and loved and still love, his original "vision," had to put up with tons of faux pas'.  So why did Dan Curtis allow them?  To make money.  But DS continued on, and so did we. 

Second, others have ideas about DS that others might not agree with.  There's the whole thing about Barnabas dealing with being blind-sided by 20th century lifestyles and technology as displayed, even if in a comical manner in the JD/TB version.  Some don't like that. Others don't.  I do.  Others do.  I was contemplating writing a "novel" that would reconstrust his initial release and having to deal with that.  I think it's important.  I do.  Others don't.  S.E. Hinton, in her DS novel alluded to it.  I'm a Stephen Kingish kind of guy.  I enjoy watching how ordinary people deal with extraordinary situations. 

Third, like I posted before, DS evolves.  One cannot expect DC's "vision" to be kept biblically true.  It had far too many holes.  The '91 version was an evoution, for good or bad.  The '04 version (which most us have not seen, including me), was an evolution, for good or bad.  This '12 version is an evolution, for good or bad.  And if there's fun to be made of DS, so what?  I was at a DS festival, and rabid fans like me asked the honorable attendants on stage comical questions about the stuff that happened.  It was a fun an enjoyable time.  So get over it.  DS fans know how to find things to pick at and make fun of it. 

The only thing I don't like is that Jimmy-Boy was involved in this movie, in whatever way.  He grates against me, because all he's concerned about it money, money, money for the DC estate.  He thinks he can run the whole show.  Initially, when the trailer first aired, it was posted numerous times on things like youtube and were then quickly taken down.  Now, it's satuated youtube.  Maybe that's too much for those who want money, money, money to keep up with.  I'm not saying who's responsible.

Let's just wait and see the movie.  It's less than one-and-a-half month away.  If I could put up with Willie Loomis being morphed from a tragic character in the original to half of the Laurel and Hardey team (via Dan Curtis' "original vision") in the placid '91 version, I can put up with Barnabas being upset at watching Karen Carpenter on a knobbed TV set.  The latter makes far more sense than the former, even if the former was Dan Curtis' distortion of his original "vision."  Dan Curtis disrtorted the original vision many times and we put up with it.  Why should everyone be upset with Depp's/Burton's version?

Gerard

P.S.  I have friends who "couldn't stand" the original DS.  When I showed them the trailor, they became infatuated, and now they want to watch the original.  They are scouring youtube and anything else.  They've become obssessed with the original.  One friend of mine always thought Barnabas was made a vampire by another vampire and not by the witch Angelique.  Now he wants to absorb anything and everything he can find on the original.  All my videos and DVD's are now on loan to him and other friends.

[borgosi]

Well it was a little different. We got to see more of Alice Cooper.

[jimbo]

Hope I am not repeating but the IMDb site changed the movie's description to: 'An imprisoned vampire, Barnabas Collins, is set free and returns to his ancestral home, where his dysfunctional descendants are in need of his protection."

Do you think WB is looking at the comments at that site?

[neiljohnson]

I guess I'm just wondering -- if they were making a comedy, why didn't they just say so in the first place?  They could have told us that three years ago, some of us would have been briefly disappointed, and we would have moved on.  At this point, even I might have been ready to watch the comedy and actually enjoy it.  Why did they allow us to assume -- no, we didn't assume, they actually said -- that they were making a respectful film?  There is something weird about that, something a bit fishy.

And, if there is nothing wrong with turning Dark Shadows into a comedy, then why are they STILL denying it is a comedy?  Despite a trailer that is one laugh after the other, TPTB are still telling us how much they respect the original series and have created a tribute to it.  If there is nothing wrong with turning Dark Shadows into a comedy, why don't TPTB proudly call it a comedy?  Are they ashamed of something?

[borgosi]

I just wanted to point out that "No More Mr. Nice Guy" came out in '73.

I have read, and I'll look for a link that this is a very bloody movie. Maybe that's why they are still saying it isn't a comedy.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

The new version:

Once Upon a Time_2012_03_18_19_59_00.mp4 (12.6MB)
(Admin Note: This version has been removed in favor of the new high resolution version available for download in reply #3523.)

And 4 screen captures from some of the new stuff:

Click for larger image: Capture #1

Click for larger image: Capture #2

Click for larger image: Capture #3

Click for larger image: Capture #4

I do believe I'm seeing another new avatar for Midnite in her future. 

More caps to come...

53 days 2 hours 28 minutes 15 seconds until the day the Depp/Burton Dark Shadows is released(ET)!!

[Cousin_Barnabas]

The song was written and performed in 1972, though, wasn't it? 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

I've read that he wrote and performed it live long before he recorded it.

53 days 2 hours 24 minutes 11 seconds until the day the Depp/Burton Dark Shadows is released(ET)!!

[Cousin_Barnabas]

MB, you are amazing!  Thanks so much!

For some reason, I liked this version more.  Still have the same reservations as before, but stuff makes a lot more sense in this version.

For example, Barnabas is sitting in the shadows at breakfast, while the rest of the family is in the daylight.  That is genius! 

And Depp's delivery and tone for the final line really struck me as well done.  It's deeper and more sardonic.   

Elizabeth is wearing the "costume" from the first still here, while standing in a dark, mausoleum-esque environment.  And that makes me question a great deal...  Does she know about Barnabas?  Interesting indeed.   

[borgosi]

It couldn't been writen in 1970. Many of his songs were around years before he recorded them, some with different. "Elected" was once called "Reflected" and it's from the same album. Alice says the song was built around The Who's "Substitute"' which was released in '66. It was recorded in '72.

Alice Cooper has always been favorite band/singer.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

And 4 more screen captures from some of the new stuff:

Click for larger image: Capture #5

Click for larger image: Capture #6

Click for larger image: Capture #7

Click for larger image: Capture #8

Still more caps to come...

53 days 2 hours 14 minutes 46 seconds until the day the Depp/Burton Dark Shadows is released(ET)!!

[Midnite]

I do believe I'm seeing another new avatar for Midnite in her future. 

Ha ha, you know me so well!

Thank you for the great pics and for the newest trailer.

[Cousin_Barnabas]

I know why I like this trailer more!  The panties are gone!   

[Mysterious Benefactor]

And the last 4 captures from some of the new stuff:

Click for larger image: Capture #9

Click for larger image: Capture #10

Click for larger image: Capture #11

Click for larger image: Capture #12

53 days 2 hours 8 minutes 14 seconds until the day the Depp/Burton Dark Shadows is released(ET)!!