Entertainment Weekly is featuring the first official promotion still from Tim Burton and Johnny Depp’s take on the 1960’s Dan Curtis Gothic Soap Opera DARK SHADOWS.
One unauthorized pic of Depp in a dead white make-up and sporting dark glasses and a wide-brimmed fedora had given the impression that the filmmakers might have been going for a Willy Wonka/Michael Jackson look, but this staged group shot offers a more traditional look at the character, though he’s somewhat in the background.
The photo has a look very similar to publicity photos of the ABC original series, and this is completely intentional, according to director Tim Burton.
“I remember seeing a group photograph of the cast of the original series… For me it captured the weird Dark Shadows vibe in a single image.
I had a brief window of opportunity to have our cast present at the same time, the day before principle photography began. We decided to stage a similar picture instead of rehearsing, to see if we captured the Dark Shadows feeling.”
I’d say they succeeded in this photograph, anyway.
In addition to Depp as Barnabas Collins, the photograph features (L-R)
Dr. Julia Hoffman (Helena Bonham Carter)
Carolyn Stoddard (Chloë Moretz, LET ME IN)
Angelique Bouchard (Eva Green)
David Collins (Gulliver McGrath)
Victoria Winters (Bella Heathcote)
Mrs. Johnson (Ray Shirley)
Willie Loomis (Jackie Earle Haley)
Roger Collins (Jonny Lee Miller)
Elizabeth Collins Stoddard (Michelle Pfeiffer)
See the link above for more information on the characters and how they may be similar and different than their original incarnations., provided by screenwriter Seth Grahame-Smith. WARNING: this info contains a certain amount of mild SPOILERS.
Due out May 11th, 2012 from Warner Brothers Pictures.