Depp/Burton DARK SHADOWS Is In Release!!

It was not just the ending that ruined it for me. I wonder what the studio is going to do in the next several weeks to "leg" it out? Most of us agree that its marketing campaign sucked. It already has spent a fortune promoting the movie. I am all for the movie having legs but can the movie also overcome poor word of mouth which is definitely out there right or wrong? Now the studio is back tracking (and spinning IMO)saying $30 million was its estimate for the weekend. http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/leisure/2012/05/14/avengers-rakes-in-us629m/

I always wondered why angie would hang out in a small fishing town for 200 years in one form or another when, with the powers she possesses she could really be a big fish in a big exciting town...after 200 years you would think she would get over her anger at the collins, plus she had barnabas right where she wanted him, and once finding out he had been released she would surely know and make a return to deal with him. someone mentioned earlier on a readers digest, a condensed verision of DS, and it was sort of what i expected. at 111 minutes they couldnt go into detail enough...the visuals were quite good, especially as liz sees a fire from the window at collinwood from her window in collinsport, and widows hill looked impressive too. Dr Hoffman was quite different from Julia from the OS and i thought that part was quite interesting. and "the ugliest woman i have ever seen" Alice still rules! and still think i have the old 8 track of T rex around somewhere. overall i would give the movie a 5 out of 10, and as i was leaving the theater with my fanatic DS brother, i seen a poster of the hunger games and wondered if maybe that may have been the movie i should have watched...there was times as i was watching DS, if i was watching the DS movie i have been waiting for months to see... Hope there is some sort of directors cut thats goes for about 3 hours that will bring more development to the characters...a little disappointed, but not unexpected.

Now the studio is back tracking (and spinning IMO)saying $30 million was its estimate for the weekend.

Well, technically he's not backtracking as some estimates said $30-$40 million and others said $30-$35 million. So it is true that $30 million was indeed the low end of estimates. But, of course, what he's not saying is that when estimates are framed in ranges like that, they tend to imply more than the lowest number, which in this case was the $30 million, so there's definitely a bit of spin in what he's saying. But imagine that - a studio executive spinning after the fact - who'd a thunk it? 

3 days 0 hours 17 minutes 45 seconds since the Depp/Burton Dark Shadows has been in release(ET)!!

I saw on fox news tonite, that it took in 29.9 million this weekend, I assume thats United States gross alone. An earlier thread said over 60 million worldwide, to me thats great when you consider the business that Avengers is doing.I will say what I said earlier this weekend, put me in the I liked it a lot category, my friend whom was not a Original DS fan looked at me and said, order the Blu Ray when its preordered. He enjoyed it alot. Now lets hope that House and the restored Night of Dark Shadows come out soon.

Okay, I got to see the new DS movie today. My brother, my mom and I (whom all are unapologetic DS nuts - original series) went to a Matinee showing. The theater was packed! Even though I pre-paid for tickets, it was hard for us to find a seat. We live in the Pittsburgh, PA area.

The audience was very receptive to the movie - and so were we. I didn't know what to expect and was pleasantly surprised. The way the movie ended, we all thought that there should be a sequel!

I will be watching this movie again. It isn't exactly like the original series and nor should it be. The spirit of Dark Shadows was still there, and that's the most important thing.

We thought the beginning was outstanding, including the use of "Nights in White Satin" (which I admittedly love because it's going to be one of the songs my fiance and I are going to play at our wedding.) We also liked the flashback scene of when Barn was little and then his life after his family came to the USA. I also liked the cameos during the party scene. And I don't know about anyone else, but I thought the scene when Julia gets...intimate...with Barnabas was a hoot! Finally! {evil grin}

I thought the use of the ghosts were great, especially David's mom. I personally liked seeing the demise of Angelique, but then again, as my brother said - is Angie ever really gone? It was sad to see the burning down of Collinwood and the cannery, but as Elizabeth said in the film, they will endure.

One thing I didn't like was that Maggie/Vicki was turned into Barn's vampire bride of sorts. However, the twist with Julia at the end makes me want more....I'd love to see what they'd do with Julia as a villain.

The key to my brother, mom, and I liking and truly appreciating this movie was taking the attitude that it's going to be different from our DS, a PT version of sorts, but an homage to it at the same time...and that's okay. It's different, but different can be cool.

Off my soapbox...   xo

Nothing related to the review of the movie (for what it's worth, I found the first 30 minutes engaging, the rest - kind of dull) but when Barnabas is walking through Collinsport and he looks at the movie theater, it seemed to me that one of the posters was for the Spanish version of House of Dark Shadows. I could be imagining, but it certainly looked like it to me - if so, that would be a nice nod to the series.

 Danny Elfman explains his score. http://moviesblog.mtv.com/2012/05/14/dark-shadows-danny-elfman-score/

Apparently the promotional interviews are still continuing because I was pleasantly surprised to find one with Jonny Lee Miller and Jackie Earle Haley on this morning's edition of ES.TV - and this time around JLM actually got to make several comments. And when I checked my DVR's listings for the show for the week, I discovered that Johnny Depp is on Tuesday and Helena Bonham Carter is on Thursday.

Also, on Entertainers, the weekend edition of the show, they ran a longer version of the segment they did with Michelle Pfeiffer that ran on Friday.

I still have yet to check some of the other entertainment shows that I recorded over the weekend...

3 days 14 hours 28 minutes 0 seconds since the Depp/Burton Dark Shadows has been in release(ET)!!

Danny Elfman explains his score.

Very interesting. Thanks for the link, jimbo. 

And apparently Elfman doesn't realize how perceptive DS fans are because many of us recognized the motifs he took from the TV score and weaved throughout his own. 

3 days 14 hours 38 minutes 50 seconds since the Depp/Burton Dark Shadows has been in release(ET)!!

I still have loads of Google Alerts to go through, but I had to post a link to this article/video right away because according to the rundown of what subjects are gotten into, Seth Grahame-Smith discusses some specifics of the scenes that didn't make it into the film:

Seth Grahame Smith Talks DARK SHADOWS, the BEETLEJUICE Sequel, Tim Burton’s NIGHT OF THE LIVING, UNHOLY NIGHT, and More

I haven't watched the video yet, but I certainly will once I get the chance...

3 days 14 hours 59 minutes 40 seconds since the Depp/Burton Dark Shadows has been in release(ET)!!

Actuals were just recently posted on Box Office Mojo, and DS made $29,685,274, which is almost $1 million more than was estimated, which is a lot better than $1 million less.    It's also closer to what Warner Brothers was claiming last night was their estimate, so they're looking a little better. 

3 days 15 hours 47 minutes 17 seconds since the Depp/Burton Dark Shadows has been in release(ET)!!

Thanks for the link to the SGS interview, MB!  Very interesting.  For anyone who hasn't heard it yet, I won't "spoil" the deleted scenes, but he describes 2 of them, and for the first one, I think it was very wise decision to cut that out and have it as it was in the film (though I'd love to see the scene on the DVD later).  The second one might've been interesting, though.

I'm glad that the film's actual box office was closer to the upper end of the estimate!  Now, I hope that it will hold pretty well for the next few weeks.  As to the question of why it was put up against The Avengers, I think that once the decision was made to release DS this spring, there probably wouldn't have been a better alternative.  Being released right after what might be a record-breaking film was unfortunate.  But pretty soon, other blockbusters are coming out- Battleship, Prometheus, Men In Black, etc. etc.  Plus, I imagine The Avengers isn't going away any time soon.  It would've been up against some competition, no matter what.  The best DS could hope for was to offer itself as an alternative for those who might happen to want to see something different than the usual blockbuster.  And at least this way, the kids are getting out of school in a couple of weeks and will want to start going to the movies more during the week, so weekday box offices for all films are usually a little better in the summer season. 

Maybe in retrospect it would've been better to release DS in the fall or winter, as I think we've discussed.  This way, they would be competing with more of the Oscar-bait films, that aren't as big box office hits as the summer movies.  And DS even takes place in the fall, as noted by the pumpkins!  On the other hand, I see that Twilight is coming out in Nov., and I'm sure they wanted to steer clear of that film, too.  Maybe October could've worked, but oh well.

Box Office Mojo reports the film made 1 million more than they projected it too.


[also reported in Reply #145 above --admin]

But pretty soon, other blockbusters are coming out- Battleship, Prometheus, Men In Black, etc. etc. 

Potentially too far off topic, but they showed previews for Battleship before Dark Shadows.  I don't know if it's just me, but that movie looks like a big stinker. 

Hmmm - even though my DVR's schedule is listing a totally different edition, I just noticed online that tonight's Jimmy Kimmel is being listed as the recent one with Depp. So, there may have been a last minute change. And if anyone missed it the first time around, you may be getting a second chance...

3 days 21 hours 38 minutes 11 seconds since the Depp/Burton Dark Shadows has been in release(ET)!!