The release date for ‘Dark Shadows’ of May 11th 2012 is slowly creeping ahead. The film remake of the popular cult classic television show has been widely anticipated. Although the television version of ‘Dark Shadows’ has many devout followers, there are those of us who have heard of the television series, but have never seen it.
Here you will find a short description of each main character, a photograph of the actor who played the role in the television series and a photograph of the actor who has been cast to play the character in the film. A press release from Warner Bros that gives a synopsis of the film is also provided.
BARNABAS COLLINS
Cursed as a vampire by vengeful mistress Angélique Bouchard, Barnabas Collins is a character marked by his duality. At once callous and compassionate, lonely and furtive, his greatest conflict is with the darker forces his curse unleashes, and the struggle to maintain his personality in spite of them. Released from eternal imprisonment in 1967, he acquaints himself with the present day Collins family, beginning a journey towards personal freedom and redemption. He remains fiercely protective of his surrogate family, and haunted by the shadow his curse casts over the lives of all who live at Collinwood.
ANGELIQUE BOUCHARD
The maidservant of Josette DuPres, Angélique's descent into the black arts has taken her through centuries, her passions and hatred unabated. Resentful of her inability to transcend the class barriers of the 18th Century, and driven by equal love and hatred for Barnabas Collins, Angélique possesses compassion and spite simultaneously, torn between her better instincts, her desire for survival, and her allegiances to the darkest forces that she finds herself in reluctant thrall to…
ELIZABETH COLLINS STODDARD
The staunch matriarch of the present day Collins family, Elizabeth Collins Stoddard is a dour widow, tormented by guilt over the disappearance of her husband Paul Stoddard over 18 years previously. Reclusive and headstrong, she refused to leave the grounds of the Collinwood mansion for years. Fiercely protective of her family and an astute businesswoman, Elizabeth's composed visage masks an altogether more vulnerable woman, who lives in fear that the shadows of her past will return to haunt her.
ROGER COLLINS
Acerbic and vain, the dapper Roger Collins displays both snobbery and selfishness, demonstrated in his remote relationship with his son David. An uneasy long-term guest at Collinwood, engaged in strained relations with his sister Elizabeth, he works within the Collins family businesses. Capable of manipulation and blackmail, his involvement in Burke Devlin's manslaughter charge remains shrouded in mystery, along with the mysterious hold he exerts over Sam Evans. Neither villain nor hero, Roger's is a flawed character driven by personal desire, greed, and a misplaced desire to maintain the virtues of the Collins family…
CAROLYN STODDARD
The daughter of Elizabeth Collins Stoddard, Carolyn is a vivacious young lady, seemingly on a quest to fill the darkened hallways of Collinwood with a light so tragically denied by her mother. At once filled with the air of teenage rebellion and a desire to enjoy life, in spite of its disappointments, she is both an inspiration and source of worry for her mother. Capable of stubborn and selfish acts, it is here that Carolyn's true character is revealed, that of an emotional, sensitive young woman more easily hurt than she might otherwise suggest.
DR. JULIA HOFFMAN
Inquisitive and intelligent, Dr. Julia Hoffman's demure and distant visage masks a woman of loyalty and passion. Driven by an insatiable desire for discovery, and a covert love for Barnabas Collins, she remains a loyal confidante. Faced with a choice between loyalty to her profession or Barnabas, she frequently forced to pledge allegiance to her friend, with sometimes-fatal consequences for those around her. Not beyond manipulation to achieve her ends, Julia's is a complex character truly understood by few around her, including Barnabas.
WILLIE LOOMIS
A hopeless drifter on the wrong side of the law, Willie Loomis first comes to Collinsport as a friend of blackmailer Jason McGuire, the pair of them having travelled and extorted together. With his salacious ways and callous disregard for those around him, he wastes no time in making himself an enemy of the local population, including Burke Devlin. Ironically, it is his most abhorrent act that triggers his partial reform, when he embarks on a grave-robbing spree at the Collins family mausoleum. Unwittingly releasing vampire Barnabas Collins back into the world. Newly enlisted as the vampire's slave, Willie gradually learns the value of compassion and respect.
VICTORIA WINTERS
"Her name is Victoria. I cannot take care of her…" It was these words, scrawled on a scrap of paper, which provided Victoria Winters with the only link with her past. Abandoned outside a New York foundling home on a cold night, Victoria was named Winters for the season she was left during. Life within the foundling home, both as a resident and later as a worker, has taught Victoria the values of compassion and modesty, which mask a desperate yearning to learn the true identities of her parents, and link her past to her future. When Elizabeth Collins Stoddard makes her curious, unsolicited proposal that Victoria comes to Collinwood to work as governess to David Collins, that the girl realises that her destiny lies in the dark mansion on the crest of Widows' Hill…
DAVID COLLINS
Young David Collins is the son of Roger and Laura, and the effects of their troubled marriage are plainly evident in the young boy's character. Growing up in a household filled with hatred and tension, David is a reserved, introverted child, whose obvious intelligence can manifest itself as spite or malice. Damaged by a tense relationship with a distant father, and confused by the loss of his mother, David is isolated and restricted by the world of Collinwood…
**The character descriptions are posted at various sites on the internet so I am unable to provide credit as to who the author is, but I found them initially at www.collinwood.net which has an enormous amount of information on the television series, should you be interested.
OTHER CAST MEMBERS
CHRISTOPHER LEE as BILL MALLOY
ALICE COOPER as HIMSELF
May 2011 - Warner Bros Press Release
FILMING BEGINS ON TIM BURTON’S “DARK SHADOWS”
Johnny Depp, Michelle Pfeiffer and Helena Bonham Carter head an all-star cast.
BURBANK, CA – May 18, 2011 – Filming begins this week on Warner Bros. Pictures’ and Village Roadshow Pictures’ “Dark Shadows,” which brings the cult classic television series to the big screen under the direction of Tim Burton. The film’s all-star ensemble cast includes Johnny Depp, Michelle Pfeiffer, Helena Bonham Carter, Eva Green, Jackie Earle Haley, Jonny Lee Miller, Bella Heathcote, Chloe Moretz, and newcomer Gulliver McGrath.
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.
Burton is directing and producing “Dark Shadows” from a screenplay by Seth Grahame-Smith, story by John August and Grahame-Smith, based on the television series created by Dan Curtis. Also producing are Oscar® winner Richard D. Zanuck (“Alice in Wonderland,” “Driving Miss Daisy”), continuing his long association with Burton; Oscar® winner Graham King, (“Rango,” “The Departed”), continuing his collaboration with Depp; Johnny Depp, Christi Dembrowski, and David Kennedy. The executive producers are Chris Lebenzon, Nigel Gostelow, Tim Headington, and Bruce Berman.
The behind-the-scenes creative team includes cinematographer Bruno Delbonnel, Oscar(R)-winning production designer Rick Heinrichs (“Sleepy Hollow”), Oscar(R)-winning costume designer Colleen Atwood (“Alice in Wonderland”) and editor Chris Lebenzon (“Alice in Wonderland”). The score will be composed by Danny Elfman.
“Dark Shadows” is being filmed entirely in England, both at Pinewood Studios and on location.
“Dark Shadows” will be distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company, and in select territories by Village Roadshow Pictures.
Summary written by Warner Bros. Pictures | Photo by Leah Gallo – © 2011 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.
