Depp/Burton DARK SHADOWS Is In Release!!

By the way, since Chloe Moretz has been such a hot commodity recently, I was curious to see how her domestic box offices have been stacking up.  Her films with the biggest box offices so far, from Box Office Mojo:

0. Bolt (voice) $114M (they don't count this one in her averages because maybe her role was too small)
1. Hugo $73.9M
2. Big Momma's House 2 $70.2M (ha, I didn't know she was in this!)
3. The Amityville Horror (2005) $65.2M
4. Diary of a Wimpy Kid $64M
5. Dark Shadows $50.9M
6. Kick-Ass $48.1M
7. (500) Days of Summer $32.4M
8. The Eye $31.4M
9. Let Me In $12.1M

So DS has already gone past both Kick-Ass and (500) Days of Summer, both of which I thought were moderate hits, and it's totally decimated Let Me In (which I thought was great btw and I'm sorry to see that its box office was so low). 

So this is just another perspective on where DS fits in.  Note that I don't think it's worth it to try this for Helena, because she was in all the Harry Potter movies, and the the other cast members aren't really known for being in a lot of blockbusters.

Edited to add- and worldwide, DS is in 3rd place for Chloe, and very soon to catch Big Momma's House 2.  Hugo is at $182.6M, though.

i think that there are certain character/storyline changes that can be sort of jarring on a first viewing. at least for me there was.

once absorbed subsequent viewings are more enjoyable.

I went to see Dark Shadows for the 3rd and 4th time over the weekend at the Silvermoon Drive-In in Lakeland Fl. It was paired with The Lucky One and admission was only $4.00 per person and $1.00 for kids. It was pretty awesome watching seeing Dark Shadows on a huge outdoor screen under the stars. The weather was great and I watched the after midnight showing on the ground in front of my car. The drive-in has 2 screens and while the DS side was pretty well attended, the side with Battleship and The Avengers sold out quickly and that caused some overflow business for DS. So the drive-in was pretty much sold out - which I was thrilled to see. Got to give out club flyers prior to the movie for what its worth, many were fans of Dark Shadows or somewhat familiar - but many others weren't and were checking out Dark Shadows for the 1st time. I think this is what Tim Burton had in mind - make it familiar enough for the diehards but reaching out to a whole new audience. As for me, I'm finding I'm falling for this movie more and more each time I see it - and even noticing some things I missed the 1st or 2nd time around.

even noticing some things I missed the 1st or 2nd time around.

I have plans to see the film for a second time tomorrow, and I'm expecting that I'll also notice things that I may not have picked up the first time. That's one of the reasons I haven't posted about the film beyond what I said the day it opened. I'd made quite a few notes for what I want to post about it, but I decided to wait to post my thoughts until after watching the film for a second time to see what sort of new things I might pick up. 

And wow - not just $4 per person - but that there are even drive-ins in your area. The last of the ones around here must have closed at least 20 years ago...

10 days 12 hours 20 minutes 31 seconds since the Depp/Burton Dark Shadows has been in release(ET)!!

Haven't been to a drive-in in centuries. That had to have been a great experience.

I did catch I guess a sort of a blooper the second time around. When Willie pours the bucket on BC the inside bottom of the bucket is dry and rusted. Did anybody catch any bloopers? Hope I didn't miss that discussion.

Tonight there is a live chat on Twitter with SGS. http://dailyfig.figment.com/2012/05/18/live-chat-seth-grahame-smith/

it's really seeming like the ball scene was drastically cut down.

over on FB there is a sweet picture of barnabas and vicki slow dancing at the ball itself. not just the scene of them on the terrace. we get a full view of vicki's gown which we never saw in the movie.

it did seem like alot of effort for such a short scene.

For anyone who might have missed it, back in reply #234 jimbo provided a link to that FB photo of Barnabas and Vicki dancing. 

And yes, it definitely seems like a lot of the party may have been cut because back when we were closely following the tweets during shooting, it seemed like they spent quite a few days shooting for the party. But then it wouldn't be the first time in a DS film that a great deal of the party footage ended up on the cutting room floor because that was the case with the party in hoDS. 

10 days 16 hours 22 minutes 46 seconds since the Depp/Burton Dark Shadows has been in release(ET)!!

This week it turns out that DS made a bit less than the official estimate: it took in $12,583,338, bringing its current domestic gross to $50,721,759. But that was still good enough to bring it up to #28 on the 2012 Domestic Grosses Chart. And depending on what it makes during the week, it could actually be in the Top 25 before Friday.

10 days 17 hours 0 minutes 34 seconds since the Depp/Burton Dark Shadows has been in release(ET)!!

it was my impression that vicki was under angelique's spell when she took the leap.

didn't barnabas demand that ang release her from her spell before she died?

Yes, and that seemed to help build tension as we see Vicki walking toward the cliff, but she stops and turns when Barnabas calls to her, which makes me think she was not under a spell; maybe it ended once Angelique was gone?  And she talked about how they couldn't be together because she alone would age, and then went over the edge willingly and knowing that Barnabas would bite her.

Love this by usffan, though my take (which could change, lol) is that Josette takes over sometime after Vicki goes off the cliff, perhaps when Vicki dies:

they really made Josette a much more active driver of the outcome of this than I had picked up on.  Think back to what she says to Barnabas as they profess their love to one another in the beginning.  Again, I don't have the exact wording, but she says something like "Promise me we'll be together forever."  In fact, her last words to Barnabas were "Help me," which I found haunting since she repeats them to Victoria several times, and the last time Victoria speaks to Barnabas before going over Widow's Hill, I think we're meant to assume that Josette has already possessed her.

not just the ball but there were several points in the film where it seemed like it had fallen victim to some harsh editing...

during the "top of the world" montage there were numerous shots that looked like they were supposed to be actual scenes with dialogue(such as the shot of barnabas and vicki reading 'love story' on the beach)that just ended up being blended into that pastiche.

and it certainly seemed like there was much more to the barnabas/julia plot that hit the cutting room floor. that felt really underdeveloped.

and indeed just who's exactly in charge as vicki goes over the cliff...josette, angelique or vicki herself...is certainly a mystery.

she does appear to be under some sort of influence as she walks towards it, but in her final seconds before she falls back, she seems to be "herself" again.

incidentally this haunting ending was much more suitable than the werewold nonsense that immediately preceded it. and the flash of julia opening her eyes under water would have provided just enough of a "tease" for future stories.

it would have changed the entire tone of the film for the better.

Seth Grahame-Smith has commented in a few post-opening interviews that much of what was cut featured Jonny Lee Miller, Helena Bonham Carter, and Gulliver McGrath (particularly almost an entire subplot involving David and Barnabas). Hopefully much of it will show up in the deleted scene.

And on first viewing I had the impression that Vicki became Josette upon waking as a vampire. But like Midnite, that opinion may change. I'll pay close attention tomorrow...

10 days 18 hours 52 minutes 54 seconds since the Depp/Burton Dark Shadows has been in release(ET)!!

To me, I don't feel as if much from the montage was meant to be separate scenes.  Or maybe that is just my own opinion, that if they really had full scenes of such clips, the film would be too literal and too bogged down.  I felt that that part was perfect the way it was, seeing Barnabas adjust to the time and to the family.

However, I do sense that there was, or should've been, slightly more to the Julia/Barnabas and David/Barnabas relationships.  And Roger was almost a throw-away character-- Jonny Lee was great with what he was given, but what he was given wasn't much, unfortunately.

My sense of Vicki at the end, based on only one viewing, was that Vicki was "herself" by the end, and she was jumping because she knew she couldn't be with Barnabas as is, and she was relying on him to change her so they could be together.  I'm not sure when Josette was "there"- whether she was there yet when Vicki was standing on the cliff or only later.  But I didn't take it as a possession; simply an insight or understanding that they were one and the same (reincarnation; integration, what have you).  It's a bit of semantics, maybe, but I guess I don't like the idea of Josette using or manipulating Vicki and so I choose not to interpret it that way, at least on only one viewing.  I may change my mind when I watch again.

if i'm recalling this correctly the last time vicki saw barnabas before widows hill was when he caught fire.

she ran from him in fear. and that didn't exactly call out "vampire". just that he was some sort of supernatural creature.

so i can't see how she "knew" he'd bite her on the way down unless josette was involved somehow.

Vicki said near the beginning of the movie that she came to Collinsport to meet or because "an old friend" or words to that. Did she intentionally lie to the hippies or did she really mean it. The writer left things intentionally vague at least in the edited version.