The first trailer for Tim Burton’s feature film version of the cult TV series Dark Shadows has finally arrived. After seeing a bevy of images over the past few months (including some hi-res ones today), we finally get a look at this thing in motion. The plot centers on a vampire (Johnny Depp) who awakens after having been buried for 200 years and tries to reconnect with his descendants. The beginning of the trailer is played straight, and we’re lead to believe that we’re in for another nightmarish tale from Burton, but when Depp wakes up in 1972 things kick into gear. This is very much a comedy, and there are more than a few laughs on display in the trailer. Burton and Depp have a lot of fun with the 1970s setting, and Depp’s reaction to modern technology is amusing. It’s got a goofy tone in the vein of Beetlejuice or Mars Attacks!, and I’m eager to see if the whole film plays like a return to comedic form for Burton.
Hit the jump to watch the trailer. The film also stars Eva Green, Michelle Pfeiffer, Chloe Moretz, Jackie Earle Haley, Gulliver McGrath, Helena Bonham Carter, Bella Heathcote, Ray Shirley, and Jonny Lee Miller. Dark Shadows opens May 11th. [Update: We've updated the article with a high quality trailer and the film's poster.]
Click over to Apple to watch in HD.
Here’s the official synopsis:
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, each harboring their own dark secrets. Matriarch Elizabeth Collins Stoddard (Michelle Pfeiffer) has called upon live-in psychiatrist, Dr. Julia Hoffman (Helena Bonham Carter), to help with her family troubles.
Also residing in the manor is Elizabeth’s ne’er-do-well brother, Roger Collins, (Jonny Lee Miller); her rebellious teenage daughter Carolyn Stoddard (Chloe Moretz); and Roger’s precocious 10-year-old son, David Collins (Gulliver McGrath). The mystery extends beyond the family, to caretaker Willie Loomis, played by Jackie Earle Haley, and David’s new nanny, Victoria Winters, played by Bella Heathcote.
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Looks great! Love the campy tone!
That was pleasantly surprising.
AHAHAHA!! looks so funny!!
Amazing trailer i loved it
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As long as there’s no dancing aliens, I’ll be very happy. That and Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure are the only ones I stay away from. But kudos on the Beetlejuice comparison.
it’s creepy+funny
love it
Looks brilliant… reveal yourself you tiny songstress !! ha ha ha
This looks awful! Nothing like the original series or movie. Depp was supposedly a fan, but with this trailer it looks like he bought the rights to crap all over it!
I agree with you B Rok. This dosn’t do the original justice.
It will be watched by generation unaware of the show so there is no scope for justice and comparison.
I watched the entire “Dark Shadows” original series from beginning to end, byt you have to understand that this is the 21st century movie version of the T.V. show. It’s going to be different, have its own feel, etc. I somewhat liked the trailer, plan on seeing the movie and hopefully enjoy it(It has cameo appearances in it by 3 of the orignal series stars:Maggie Evans, Angelique and Quentin Collins.)
I hope this is not the tone of the actual movie.
I was looking forward to this movie since I adore the show it is based on and I was more excited learning that Jonathan Frid (the original Barnabus) and Kathryn Leigh Scott (Maggie Evans/Josette Collins) were making cameos. From the interviews, they said they were staying true to the original series, but I am not seeing much of that in the trailer. I am still hoping to like this movie, but I think it would be best not to expect it to be like the original.
The jokes are lame as a mofo but Eva Green makes me want to play with myself!
It’ll do 400 to 500 million at the box office.
This
Swellinwood: ny not
yes there is scope for comparison! You can update or remake something and still stay true to the characters and the story. I agree with james the tone of this movie seems silly and goofy which is absolutely the opposite of the show!
People!
When he made Batman it was nothing like the t.v show, have faith in Tim!
gotta say for the first time im not sure about this tim n johnny movie i hope its not all comedy i realize what they are going for a vampire trying to get used to world after 200 years but i just hope its not all laughs i do hope to see some horror in this
Every year a new Tim Burton movie comes, out and every year I hope it’s good, and every year I am severely disappointed. Ed Wood and Big Fish were his last great movies, everything else has been complete crap.
Depp & Burton are great BUT, I am very disappointed in the direction of this film. They did not stay true to the original tv show. This show was not a comedy. Apparently, Hollywood must turn action/dramas/thrillers into comedies these days… ex: 21 Jumpstreet, Starsky & Hutch. Let’s hope for the best!?
True facts – this is like exact same plot set up as the live action “Fat Albert” movie that came out like five years ago, complete with bad 70′s jokes that fall flat.
That can’t be what DS fans or Tim Burton was aiming for, right?
Too Campy. I loved the original show and even enjoyed the Ben Cross remake. This seems silly. I’ve never been a Tim Burton fan and don’t like Depp when he does Burton. I hope the movie is better than the trailer.
Utterly flacid. On track to be the worst remake since The Avengers.