Depp/Burton DARK SHADOWS Is In Release!!

[jimbo]

SGS very briefly commented on the DS movie. "It largely didn't work..."  http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505270_162-57458589/abraham-lincoln-vampire-hunter-author-speaks-out/?tag=socsh

[Gerard]

To be perfectly honest, other than here, I've never heard of that Titans movie.  None of my friends have.  I admit, I don't follow movies much anymore because I can't afford to see them.  Yet, my friends were all psyched about DS, even the ones who never like the OS.  They heard about it (other than through me).  They all loved it.  I think that says a great deal about the DS movie.  Althought it didn't make as much money as WB hoped (because of its shoddy marketing), it still has been a money-maker.  And I think that says a great deal, too.

Gerard

[Mysterious Benefactor]

DS was in 3D - hmmm - I must have missed that.

 

It is nice to read, though, that SG-S is proud of the film. I suspect he should be because it's not his fault how it was edited or marketed. And we probably have months before the Blu-ray comes out, but I can't wait to see those promised deleted scenes to see what the film might have been had Warner Brothers not issued their under 2 hours edict.

42 days 21 hours 33 minutes 37 seconds since the Depp/Burton Dark Shadows has been in release(ET)!!

[jimbo]

Yes that I caught but there is nothing we can do. There always seems to be a mistake in most DS articles/references. I have given up pointing them out unless it truly effects the story. Perhaps one day....

Wasn't the Titans suppose to be a franchise or at least a trilogy? I too don't know much about it.

Here is another production interview. It seems to be a bit different than the last one I linked to here. http://www.cgsociety.org/index.php/CGSFeatures/CGSFeatureSpecial/dark_shadows_vfx

[Gerard]

SGS very briefly commented on the DS movie. "It largely didn't work..."  http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505270_162-57458589/abraham-lincoln-vampire-hunter-author-speaks-out/?tag=socsh

I think he's being self-deprecating.  Not that that's a bad thing, because humility makes one a better artist.  But if DS "largely didn't work," it's because of the stupid heads at WB who didn't know how to market it.  SGS wrote a wonderful screenplay that captured the essence of DS and removed the inconsistencies and made it relevent.  In many ways, it logically worked better than the OS, the '70 film and the '91 TV remake because it dealt with a Barnabas who muddled his way through trying to understand the culture and technology of 200 advanced years, rather than some guy who showed up knocking at the door of Collinwood in a few days, wearing his Robert Hall suit and Thom McCan shoes trying to bluff his way in being able to hold his own about a discussion regarding the last episode of Gunsmoke, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, or The Cosy Show.  Considering that SGS appears to be to young to understand those various time period and cultures, he was very adapt at bringing parts of them to life.

Gerard

[David]

Getting back to how DS stopped production on The Thin Man:
how the hell does Thin Man, a drawing room comedy, cost $100 million?
Budgets and expectations are out of control across the board.

[Lydia]

how the hell does Thin Man, a drawing room comedy, cost $100 million?

It must be the dog.

[Cousin_Barnabas]

 

 

I love the original Thin Man movies, and I really can't imagine them being redone.  My hope is that if a new one ever came out, it would be in black and white.  (But that is probably asking too much.) 

It's interesting that WB and SGS all seem to be disappointed in DS when it doesn't seem to have flopped.  But it certainly wasn't recognizable as DS from their marketing standpoint.  I honestly don't understand a studio wanting to own a property and then make it something it isn't, has never been, and will never be at anytime in the future.  It's strange... very strange.  And for them to complain about it (externally or internally) is just silly.  They brought it on themselves with their marketing, their editing edict, and their approval of the screenplay.  They made poor decisions, but it's not the fault of the property.  It's how the property was handled. 

I see there are Frankenweenie toys already available.  The fact that there was no additional marketing or tie-ins for it really makes me question what was really going on in the months leading up to its release.  It's not normal for something the studio was allegedly expecting to be a "summer blockbuster" or "tentpole" to not have any promotions relating to it.  I wonder if we will ever know everything that went down.  Maybe Jim Pierson will have something to say at the festival.  That should be fun...   

[Uncle Roger]

All things are relative, I suppose. If Warner Brothers expected the film to be a major blockbuster that would pack the theaters through the summer, then they probably were disappointed. But the film didn't bomb. It found an audience and was reasonably successful. You'd think that would be enough.

It Is very odd that, other than a couple of makeup items, there was hardly any merchandising done. I doubt that McDonalds would have done a Happy Meal promotion based on what happens in the film. Can you picture the slogan? When you think of Satan, you're thinking of McDonalds.

[Cousin_Barnabas]

That would have been impressive!   

And while I was not expecting Mephistopheles... er... Mickey D's to produce toys, I was expecting some sort of tie-in with a food company (probably some giveaway or drawing, like the Spiderman stuff at Hardee's), as well as high-end dolls or action figures for the main characters, or at least Barnadepp.  Maybe T-Shirts at Hot Topic?  The fact that we got nothing is astounding, especially since this was a PG-13 film.  Even the Wolf Man got some deluxe figures, and that was R and not a summer release.   

[Mysterious Benefactor]

When I visited the official Web site about three weeks ago to see if anything new had been added I noticed that they were offering T-shirts and caps. But honestly I didn't pay that much attention to them because neither really interested me - and though I may be mistaken (I've been too lazy to check) I was thinking that someone had already mentioned them here and I'd just forgotten about it. But if I didn't read it here, I must have read it somewhere else because I did read it somewhere. And perhaps they'll eventually show up in stores like Newbury Comics because they tend to carry a lot of film merchandise that isn't otherwise distributed through other chains.

As for Seth Grahame-Smith, I suspect the framing of much of what he says in the article is his concerted effort to genuinely try to salvage his screenwriting career. Rightly or wrongly, he got blasted for DS (even though it remains to be seen whether or not his script hadn't fleshed out a lot more than was seen on screen) - and he's getting blasted even worse for Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. Though at least with the latter he probably should have realized that might be the case because a whole slew of book critics fell all over themselves to blast him for the book, so with that already in mind, there were probably a whole slew of film critics just waiting for the opportunity to do the same with the film (even though, as I understand it, the film is different from the book). Sadly and often quite unfairly, that's sometimes the way it is with film critics. Though given the dire box office forecasts for the film, maybe it really is as bad as so many indicators are foreshadowing.

43 days 10 hours 55 minutes 8 seconds since the Depp/Burton Dark Shadows has been in release(ET)!!

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Here is another production interview.

I'm really looking forward to checking that out. But last night and still today when I tried again I couldn't get the images to completely download. But I'm sure they'll download for me at some point, so I'll just have to keep trying.

43 days 11 hours 9 minutes 15 seconds since the Depp/Burton Dark Shadows has been in release(ET)!!

[jimbo]

MB that site is using a great deal of flash in each image and also has a short video. Perhaps that is why its taking some time to load.
Vampire Hunter is estimated to have only taken in $6,300 million on Friday for a $17,500 million estimated weekend gross, the latter as per Deadline. Mojo doesn't list DS' performance as of this writing.
I will need to check out those shirts and caps. Thanks for the heads up.
I just checked the official website. I didn't see the shirts/caps although I may be looking at the wrong sections.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

It's always fascinating how different sites get the same Friday estimates but come up with different predictions for the weekend because boxoffice.com is saying they think AL:VH will bring in $15.75 million. Though either way, it's still higher than the $14 million that was being predicted by many forecasters earlier in the week. But then, predictions are just that, predictions - and sometimes they're low - and sometimes they're too high. 


As for DS, none of the sites had estimates for DS last weekend. The numbers for DS weren't revealed until the actuals came out on Monday. And it'll probably be the same this weekend.

Wrath of the Titans brought in $214,933 for its 7th weekend - we'll see how DS compares.

43 days 12 hours 51 minutes 48 seconds since the Depp/Burton Dark Shadows has been in release(ET)!!

[libshad84]

Hey all, lurker here popping out of the shadows...

I didn't see the movie. It seems real good, but I just don't go see movies or watch them much at all. I've read all the posts and pics and watched the youtube videos and such. I plan on buying the DVD when it's out.

I'm glad that most everybody here enjoyed the movie and seen it multiple times!