Director Tim Burton's upcoming feature film take on the 1960's gothic soap opera "Dark Shadows" starts principal photography mid-May, 2011 in London, UK @ Pinewood Studios, starring Johnny Depp ("Ed Wood") , Eva Green ("Casino Royale") and Chloe Moretz ("Kick-Ass"). Also cast are Thomas McDonnell and Jackie Earle Haley ("Watchmen").
Green will play the character 'Angelique Bouchard Collins', an 18th century witch who invoked the original 'vampiric' curse on 'Barnabas Collins' (Depp).
"Dark Shadows" is being produced by Depp’s production company Infinitum Nihil and Graham King’s GK Films.
Screenplay is by Seth Grahame-Smith ("Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter"), who drafted a rewrite of a previous screenplay by John August.
"Dark Shadows", created by Dan Curtis ("The Night Stalker"), originally aired weekdays on the ABC television network, June 1966 to April 1971. Story 'bible' for the show was written by Art Wallace.
The series became popular a year into its run, with the introduction of Canadian actor Jonathan Frid, playing the 200-year old Barnabas who encounters other vampires, werewolves, ghosts, zombies, man-made monsters, witches and warlocks.
Writer Malcolm Marmorstein, who created the Collins character, also created the characters 'Sam Hall', 'Gordon Russell' and 'Violet Welles'.
The series often used classic horror stories including "Dracula", "Frankenstein", "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde", "The Picture of Dorian Gray", "The Turn of the Screw" and "Wuthering Heights", freely borrowing prose from authors Edgar Allan Poe, Oscar Wilde, Bram Stoker, Mary Shelley, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Henry James and H. P. Lovecraft.
According to the original story, Collins was originally the object of desire, circa 1795, for the witch Angelique. In the present day, Collins is released from his coffin by 'Willie Loomis'. Collins then kidnaps waitress 'Maggie Evans', believed to be the reincarnation of lost love 'Josette du Pres'.
Composer Robert Cobert's music score for the series entered the Billboard top 20 national album chart in 1969. The spoken-word instrumental track "Quentin's Theme", earned a Grammy nomination, peaking at number 13 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
1,225 episodes of "Dark Shadows" were produced during its TV run, with a feature film, starring Frid, released in 1970.
1,225 episodes of "Dark Shadows" were produced during its TV run, with a feature film, starring Frid, released in 1970.
