Another peek at the strange-looking adaptation of DARK SHADOWS from director Tim Burton has shown up online. The image is of Johnny Depp as Barnabas Collins and Eva Green as Angelique Bouchard.
Check it out below:
Personally, I have never seen the original TV show, so my knowledge is nil on this project. I’m actually thankful for it as I have no expectations except for Tim Burton and Johnny Depp to continue their collaborative work with success (for the most part). I’m really looking forward to a trailer so I can get a better sense of what direction Burton is going with this, but I’m intrigued nonetheless with the images I’ve seen and the details I’ve read.
Here’s the synopsis for those, like myself, who know nothing about the original TV show:
In the year 1752, Joshua and Naomi Collins, with young son Barnabas, set sail from Liverpool, England to start a new life in America. But even an ocean was not enough to escape the mysterious curse that has plagued their family. Two decades pass and Barnabas (Johnny Depp) has the world at his feet-or at least the town of Collinsport, Maine. The master of Collinwood Manor, Barnabas is rich, powerful and an inveterate playboy…until he makes the grave mistake of breaking the heart of Angelique Bouchard (Eva Green). A witch, in every sense of the word, Angelique dooms him to a fate worse than death: turning him into a vampire, and then burying him alive. Two centuries later, Barnabas is inadvertently freed from his tomb and emerges into the very changed world of 1972. He returns to Collinwood Manor to find that his once-grand estate has fallen into ruin. The dysfunctional remnants of the Collins family have fared little better…
I don’t know. It sounds pretty cool to me, but I suppose it will depend on how the material is handled. We all know how Burton does business and can anticipate an odd/funny performance from Depp as is usually the case, but the thematic approach will be most telling.
DARK SHADOWS sinks its teeth into theathers on May 11th, 2012.