Depp/Burton DARK SHADOWS Is In Production!!

"DS is so bad it's good" has simply become the mantra, repeated by people who really have no clue as to what DS is actually like.

Though quite sadly, and as I said the other day, that's the picture the media paints nearly every time DS comes up. And for better or worse, it's probably why a good deal of the potential audience for the new film will not find anything about the humorous situations to be unexpected because they'll go into the film expecting it because, unless they're the type of fans who ignore such things, that's the way the original show has always been presented to them. 

But, as I also mentioned the other day, as much as we might like to, we can't discount the fact that even among fans there's a large group that's into the bloopers, etc. - and those are the things that really attract them to the original show...

44 days 4 hours 12 minutes 57 seconds until the day the Depp/Burton Dark Shadows is released(ET)!!

Well, what do you know - tonight Extra did a segment on the big films of the summer, and DS was included. It's about time!

44 days 3 hours 20 minutes 12 seconds until the day the Depp/Burton Dark Shadows is released(ET)!!

DS was way ahead of other 1960s soap operas.  Sy Tomasoff's sets were build and detailed to a level that was far in advance of the standard of the day.  Bob Cobert's score had avant-garde elements and a level of artistry that left the campy organ cues of other soaps in the dust.  At a time when standard soap scripts were mainly about the nasty slattern down the street, DS was evoking everything from Dracula to The Little Foxes (by Miss Hellman). 

I know I am singing to the choir but honestly...

G.

The truly sad thing is that unless you were around back then and saw what the other soaps were doing and how some of them almost looked like they threw up a couple pieces of plywood and put a chair and a lamp in front of them (I'm still talking about you, General Hospital), you have no idea how much better DS was in so many ways. And the vast majority of the people writing about DS in the mainstream media these days were not around back then, so we get articles that give little credit to how innovative DS was and instead focus on "the plethora of bloopers – wrong props, bats flitting about on visible wires, falling scenery, muffed dialogue, the crew seen walking through shots, the cast trying in vain to ignore them." And what's even sadder is it's just something we have to come to terms with and live with because I doubt it's about to change anytime soon, or probably ever - particularly when it's already been going on for more decades than I care to remember...

43 days 23 hours 23 minutes 1 second until the day the Depp/Burton Dark Shadows is released(ET)!!

The third and final spot from the weekend:

I've just discovered that finally someone has put up a 720p version of this:

Dark Shadows - 60sec TV Spot.

And of course that means I'll have to get some screen caps from it now. 

43 days 22 hours 36 minutes 42 seconds until the day the Depp/Burton Dark Shadows is released(ET)!!

Yes, we know that there were lots of bloopers in the original, and in some ways that has made it endearing to its fans.  But, I'm sure no one expected a movie to deliberately have mistakes like that in order to be like the original!  Of course a movie would have wonderful and modern production values, and can take the time and expense to repeat things until they are right.  Having bloopers isn't what makes it anything like the original; it's whether or not the plot and the acting are true to the spirit of the original.

For myself, watching the trailers and the rest of the Depp Shadows runup unfold has clarified for me that I'm no longer interested--if I ever really was interested--in any Dark Shadows remakes, period.  I know people follow KLS's lead in saying DS is like Shakespeare and every actress deserves to give her take on Josette (or whoever).  But to me, DS wasn't like a theatrical epic; it was like the part of my family I never met--the people who were like ME (which nobody else in my real family ever was).  To that extent, I like the publicists' angle about every family having its weirdies or however they're phrasing. 

If I walked into a room and saw somebody portraying my Aunt Lillian, and not only that, had the imposter who was supposed to be her running around in a crushed velvet cape with five hundred pounds of pancake makeup, it would be jarring and I wouldn't be able to "just get used to it."  To me, DS is a cast of characters portrayed by Jonathan Frid, Grayson Hall, Joan Bennett et al. as they were 40 years ago. 

I originally had a very lengthy reply to this, but it got deleted.  So here's my second attempt at letting you know how much I valued your response:

I just want to say that I totally understand where you are coming from and appreciate it a great deal.  Thank you so much for sharing this. 

To me, there will only ever be one Dark Shadows.  All others, past and future, will be their own entities.  They may have similar elements to the original, but none will ever be as special or as wonderful as the series that ran from 1966 through 1971. 

I may like this new film or I may not.  Whether I do has very little to do with the original series, though.  Because it is that show which has provided me endless enjoyment, helped me through some hard times, and remains one of the only programs I will watch over and over again for the rest of my life.

I hope I can find some way to enjoy this new film.  But if I don't, it doesn't affect how I feel about the original.  It will always be mine.  It will always be very special to me, far more so than any film any modern filmmakers could create.  Dark Shadows was my childhood.  And, as such, it is a great part of me.  Nothing can replace it or hold a candle up to it. 

I just hope that this new Dark Shadows provides similar enjoyment to new audiences, and that I, with my somewhat rigid fanboy mindset, can enjoy it on a different level.  We shall see.                 

5 screen captures from the new stuff in the first 60 second TV spot:

(Of course they're not nearly as good as if I'd gotten a copy of the TV spot myself - but hopefully that can happen before too long)

43 days 21 hours 18 minutes 56 seconds until the day the Depp/Burton Dark Shadows is released(ET)!!

4 more screen captures:

(And apparently in that same scene as Willie is washing the car, there is landscaping going on.)

43 days 21 hours 16 minutes 47 seconds until the day the Depp/Burton Dark Shadows is released(ET)!!

4 more screen captures:

43 days 21 hours 11 minutes 36 seconds until the day the Depp/Burton Dark Shadows is released(ET)!!

4 more screen captures:

43 days 21 hours 9 minutes 57 seconds until the day the Depp/Burton Dark Shadows is released(ET)!!

And the final 4 screen captures:

43 days 21 hours 8 minutes 8 seconds until the day the Depp/Burton Dark Shadows is released(ET)!!

Over the weekend, I watched a fascianting documentary called Tales from the Script (it's available for DVD rental or streaming through Netflix).  The movie features a number of prominent Hollywood screenwriters discussing their experiences of writing, pitching a script, and inevitably watching as their work is modified (sometimes beyond recognition) by directors, actors, studio heads, and script doctors.  John August is one of the writers interviewed, and he speaks about his working relationship with Tim Burton (which I found especially interesting, in light of their work together on the DS movie).  Since there has been some discussion in this topic about who is responsible for the tone and direction of the film, I thought this doc might help to shed some light on the process of script development in general and how that may have come into play in this case.

ProfStokes

To me, there will only ever be one Dark Shadows.  All others, past and future, will be their own entities.  They may have similar elements to the original, but none will ever be as special or as wonderful as the series that ran from 1966 through 1971. 

I may like this new film or I may not.  Whether I do has very little to do with the original series, though.  Because it is that show which has provided me endless enjoyment, helped me through some hard times, and remains one of the only programs I will watch over and over again for the rest of my life.

I hope I can find some way to enjoy this new film.  But if I don't, it doesn't affect how I feel about the original.

Back in '04 when the WB pilot was in development, I made the following post:

Of course, it's completely understandable to believe that nothing can ever come close to recapturing the same magic of the original DS. But at the same time, there's no reason not to believe that something different, but possibly equally special could potentially be created - not to replace the original - but to coexist alongside it. That's the way I see the '91 series, and I'm hoping a WB DS might turn out to be something even more interesting.

And that's the way I'll continue to approach every new version of DS that might come along. Though in the case of the new film, it's not going to be anything like the '91 series or what a WB DS might have been. But that doesn't necessarily mean that it can't be enjoyable in its own right as a very different version of DS...

43 days 20 hours 22 minutes 17 seconds until the day the Depp/Burton Dark Shadows is released(ET)!!

I totally agree, MB.  And in my original response (the one I stupidly closed out of!), I mentioned how much I enjoy the 1991 series (especially the music and Joanna Going)... just on another level from how I enjoy the original.  I hope that I can say the same of the new project.  We shall see.

Thanks again for the amazing captures.  There are so many to love from this new ad, especially THE BITE!   

And ProfStokes, thank you for the tip.  I will have to check it out... whenever I can find the time!  (So busy!)