Here’s a new image of Johnny Depp and co-star and former Bond Girl, Eva Green from their new movie Dark Shadows with Eva sporting a lovely blonde barnet. Dark Shadows is the latest from Tim Burton which probably goes without saying when you look at the styling of the image below and those we’ve seen so far from the movie. I’m about to wriote the rest of the cast down. Can you guess who it might be?! OK, let me put you out of your misery.

Te movie also stars…. Michelle Pfeiffer, Jackie Earle Haley, Jonny Lee Miller, Bella Heathcote, Chloe Moretz, Gulliver McGrath and someone called Helena Bonham Carter who you may know from every other Tim Burton movie ever!

The image comes from Luces Carmara Blog with a nod to the dudes at ComingSoon. We can expect Dark Shadows on the 11th May.

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 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 Brouchard. 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 has called upon live-in psychiatrist, Dr. Julia Hoffman, to help with her family troubles.

He’s the writer-director of TV series The Kill Point, starring Steve Cirbus, Donnie Wahlberg and Michael Hyatt, about a group of Iraq veterans who pull off a major bank heist. He’s also dabbled in a spot of editing, acting and producing with comedy Big Fan.

Now Josh Trank sets his sights higher by taking on his ‘reality TV’ style sci-fi thriller, Chronicle, about three high school friends who gain superpowers after making an incredible discovery and find their bond tested as they embrace their darker sides. The new film stars Michael B. Jordan and Michael Kelly, and relative newcomers Alex Russell and Dane DeHaan.

At an exclusive ‘first-see’ screening in central London in January, Trank talked about the origins of the Chronicle, working with director John Landis’s son, Max Landis, on the ideas and the script, his documentary influence, whether he’s been asked to revamp Fantastic Four/X-Men, and if there’s more to the story to warrant a sequel:

You’re known after Stabbing at Leia’s 22^nd Birthday on YouTube.

Josh Trank: We’re looking at the most self-photographed and filmed generation ever; maybe this movie can be part of that?

How did you and Max come to work together?

Josh Trank: I knew Matt from being a teenager. Max said he wanted to write a feature, and after seeing the treatment for Chronicle, she wrote something within two weeks.

Where did the concepts come from?

Josh Trank: From a daydream about wishing I could move stuff – the ability of telekinesis, and how would that be an everyday skill that could be developed. Chronicle is also a celebration of our love for comic-book heroes; what separates this story from other superhero ones is Chronicle doesn’t’ come from a moral justice aspect – the kids don’t have anything too prove and just do what they can do.

Why did you decide to use hand-held footage?

Josh Trank: I grew up with my dad (Richard Trank, who won the Oscar for Best Documentary in 1997 for The Long Way Home) as a documentary filmmaker so I wanted to blend documentary with sci-fi – as inspired by Neill Blomkamp’s sci-fi thriller District 9 and its documentary approach. I wanted to make this film look like raw and unhampered footage.

The POV of the camera operator chances throughout – who actually ‘edits’ it?

Josh Trank: Every scene plays deliberately as a long single shot. There is the idea of some kind of ‘outside existence’ editing it, what with the jump cuts. Perhaps, like the character Matt (played by Alex Russell) at the end, his powers allow him to start and stop the camera, so there’s no need for a camera operator? That’s one for the audience…

Did the family or teen issues in the film develop from the performances or were they always there in the original script?

Josh Trank: People respond better to real dialogue, rather than movie dialogue. Dane (DeHaan) was hired first out of the leads, and we auditioned the others to see how they would play off each other.

[SPOILER ALERT] Was following superhero tropes, such as making Andrew (DeHaan) into the villain, what was always planned as the outcome?

Josh Trank: Yes, definitely, also the influences of things going on around him, from him changing from being the victim to the threat. The character of Matt slowly grows up throughout, too, and goes to stop Andrew, not through any gallant superhero move, but because it’s a grown-up, adult instinct to do the right thing.

The film has a 80s’ feel to it…

Josh Trank: Yeah, it was only after watching the first cut that we realised this. Amy Heckerling movies obviously had a big influence in the way the characters relate to each other and have chemistry.

How are there no repercussions from Andrew and Steve showing off their magical talents at the school talent show?

Josh Trank: There were a couple of takes for that scene, like water going over the audience, but it stopping mid-air. However, we couldn’t afford to do that! We got give far enough at the talent show for it to still be humanly possible – any further and it would have been too far.

Anything else you left out of the final cut?

Josh Trank: Yeah, you’ll see them on the DVD extras; mainly things to do with scheduling or that didn’t fit into the movie. The idea is to be absorbed on first viewing, and asking, “where’s it going?”

Running at under 90 minutes, did you deliberately make the film short?

Josh Trank: I just like short movies – a movie needs to be as long as it needs to be. I’m a big Alan Clarke fan, and his movies are short and are played naturalistically.

Is the trailer cut short on purpose too?

Josh Trank: Well, it seems to be working and getting a lot of attention. I leave that sort of thing up to the marketing guys. I gave they some ideas, and just wanted them to embrace the style of the movie and that it gets darker.

Are there any nods to Brian De Palma’s Carrie in this?

Josh Trank: Max and I have not gone into what other film influences are put in. We’ve basically tipped our hats to a lot of little things.

If there was a US version of Akira, Chronicle would be it ­– would you make one?

Josh Trank: After Zack Snyder’s Dawn of the Dead, I stopped judging remakes. Who knows?

Will you be doing Fantastic Four or X-Men?

Josh Trank: It’s a little weird, as I knew this movie would work, but it’s been surprising how everyone’s responded. I have been working on some original ideas and things are being talking about, but nothing’s a signed deal yet.

Who’s your favourite comic-book character?

Josh Trank: Batman – Frank Miller is my favourite writer as I grew up with the Tim Burton Batman.

[SPOILER ALERT] Will the Chronicle story continue?

Josh Trank: We have ideas. We’ll see what happens as Matt’s still alive – and the others might be too…

Chronicle is out 1st February. Read our review here.

Another image of Johnny Depp in Tim Burton‘s retelling of the 1966-1971 classic gothic soap opera, Dark Shadows, has been released this week. No trailer yet, but Depp looks better and better each image we see, so for most that’s already enough to look forward to on its own.

Dark Shadows follows Barnabas Collins (Depp), a wealthy playboy who is transformed into a vampire and buried by a jilted lover, Angelique (Eva Green). After being dug up 200 years later, Collins attempts to reintegrate with his descendants, led by Elizabeth (Michelle Pfeiffer) and Roger (Jonny Lee Miller), whilst he also crosses the path with various monsters, witches, werewolves and ghosts, all of whom have secrets.

Burton recently talked about his project, calling it “a weird soap opera.” The film also stars Helena Bonham Carter and Chloë Grace Moretz, and is set to be released 11th May.

Here’s the new image, as well as one of the whole cast. As usual, click to enlarge:

(Source: Collider)

Warner Bros. has shared a new photograph of Johnny Depp and Michelle Pfeiffer this week, showing the undead couple in Tim Burton’s retelling of the 1966-1971 classic gothic soap opera, Dark Shadows.

The film follows Barnabas Collins (Depp), a wealthy playboy who is transformed into a vampire and buried by a jilted lover, Angelique (Eva Green). After being dug up in 1752, Collins attempts to reintegrate with his descendants, led by Elizabeth (Pfeiffer) and Roger (Jonny Lee Miller), whilst he also crosses the path with various monsters, witches, werewolves and ghosts, all of whom have secrets.

Dark Shadows also stars Helena Bonham Carter, and Chloë Grace Moretz, and is set to be released 11th May.

(Source: Bloody Disgusting)

Oscar-nominated writer-director Tim Burton is something of a genius, and news of his upcoming projects is always welcomed with open arms, and this story is no different. Especially since it involves Robert Downey, Jr. too.

With adaptations of children’s fairy tales re-emerging in recent years, which Burton himself is no stranger to, having directed adaptations of Alice in Wonderland and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, word now comes of a new take on the story of Pinocchio.

THR report, via Collider, that Burton is very interested in directing a live-action remake of the story, first published in Italian by Carlo Collodi back in 1883, and turned into a famous Disney animated film in 1940. And not only that, but the director already has his eye on the lead for Gepetto, and it’s none other than the brilliant Robert Downey, Jr.

“In the version being developed at Warner Bros., Geppetto embarks on a quest to reunite with his missing marionette.”

The script made it onto last year’s Black List, the list of the year’s best unproduced scripts in Hollywood, and has been written by Bryan Fuller, creator of TV’s Pushing Daisies, Wonderfalls, and Dead Like Me, and whose writing credits also include a few episodes of Heroes.

Burton is already set to develop Miss Peregrine’s Home For Curious Children, and is thought to be considering directing that adaptation too, so it might become a question of which comes first if he wants to helm both projects.

Downey, Jr., too, of course has an ever-busy schedule. He’s currently in the cinemas with Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (by far, one of the best films of 2011, in my opinion – if you haven’t seen it yet, make sure you don’t miss it before it leaves the cinema), and will soon be returning as Tony Stark / Iron Man in The Avengers in April. He’s also got Iron Man 3 to look forward to after that, and if all goes well, The Avengers 2 will be following that in the years to come too.

The actor has also been attached in recent months to the Perry Mason film adaptation, and has picked up The Accidental Genius to produce for Warner Bros., and though he’s only currently set to serve as a producer on the latter, it wouldn’t come as a surprise if he leads the cast on that too.

So as you might expect, both Burton and Downey, Jr. are busy men. But I’m definitely keeping my fingers crossed that they can find a time common to both their schedules to fit this Pinocchio adaptation in, because the prospect of them working together sounds too good to be true. You can sure we’ll be keeping our ears to the floor for more news on this as it comes.

Phaidon Press continue their exceptional work in publishing some of the best books on cinema with Antoine de Baecque’s Cahiers du Cinema on Tim Burton.

The director has always been a personal favourite, as much for his marvellously scrappy and witty drawings and concept art as for his baroque take on the Gothic sensibility. His eye for the ornate shadows and impossible romanticism of the outcast will always resonate and find an audience, yet his directorial sojourns have, of late, met with some critical backlash despite commanding huge box office figures and handsome returns for the studios who invest in the man who was once champion of the strange and unusual.

Any book on Tim Burton needs to be well illustrated and each project covered in de Baecque’s book has a wealth of images from the director’s scratchy concept art to the final on screen image. The visuals in any Burton film are always of interest but here we have a book which seeks to go deeper into the mindset of the man whose films are instantly recognisable and this book gives a decent stab at understanding why Burton’s crooked road, without improvement, leads his own particular palace of wisdom.

It’s not the most revelatory book on the director, though the recurring images and thematic touchstones are identified and occasionally go beyond the obvious ‘Burton IS Edward/Ed Wood etc’. It is the conversations with the author which are of greatest interest, as Burton’s work is best commented on by the man himself with a reluctance to draw precise meaning from his film tempered with an appreciation for, and easy access to, the inspirations which bore them.

As a fan of Burton’s artwork and films it was a pleasure to read, and the stories of the collaborations during production and studio influence and interference adding a new dimension to an appreciation of the body of work. There were a few too many comments culled from Mark Salisbury’s Burton on Burton and, oddly, studio press releases for my liking but when the word comes from Burton himself, and with some artwork I’d not seen before, this is a certain recommendation for fans of a director whose talents often shine through even the darkest of tales.

***½~ (3.5/5)

The second of Seth Grahame-Smith’s best-selling mash-up novels, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter has found better traction on its path to the big screen than his earlier novel, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, and is currently in post-production having filmed earlier this year.

We got our first look at photos from the set back in April, and IGN have now debuted the film’s brilliant first two posters, which give us a terrific look at Benjamin Walker in the lead as the eponymous President/Vampire Hunter. (Granted, you can’t see his face to tell it’s Walker, but I’d say the axe and the top hat are a bit of a clue.)

As the posters proudly promote at the top, the film is being produced by Tim Burton and has Timur Bekmambetov (Wanted, Night Watch, Day Watch) behind the camera. Alongside Walker, the filmmakers have lined up a great cast with some excellent rising stars at the moment, including Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Dominic Cooper, Anthony Mackie, Rufus Sewell, and Alan Tudyk.

“Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter explores the secret life of our greatest President, and the untold story that shaped our nation. Visionary filmmakers Tim Burton and Timur Bekmambetov (director of Wanted) bring a fresh and visceral voice to the blood-thirsty lore of the vampire, imagining Lincoln as history’s greatest hunter of the undead.”

Grahame-Smith has scripted the adaptation of his own novel for this, which means we’ll get to see two of his screenplays on the big screen next year, the first of which will mark is his feature debut with Tim Burton’s Dark Shadows, due out on 11th May.

These new posters are of the lenticular variety, with one being Night and the other Day, so when you’re walking by it in real life, you’ll get twice the awesomeness in just one poster. Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter will be with us in 3D on 2nd August next year, and here’s to hoping it’ll be one of the summer’s many great movies to look forward to. Without further ado, here are the two new posters. The handwritten signature-esque font of ‘Abraham Lincoln’ is a nice touch, like Clint Eastwood’s J. Edgar. As usual, click to enlarge.

Tim Burton’s upcoming stop motion remake of his own 1984 short film, Frankenweenie, is definitely one of the most interesting projects that we can look forward to seeing next year.

We got our first official look at the film, which will be released in black and white in 3D, back in October with some brilliant images, before which we’d got a look at the film’s logo this summer and some concept art just over a year earlier.

We’ve now got some terrific new images from the set to share with you, courtesy of ShockTillYouDrop, who’ve visited the set and spoken to some of the filmmaking team:

“Tim always wanted to make it into a feature and into an animated feature,” explains Producer Allison Abate, “We had to open the story up a little bit. Pretty much, the whole first act is like the short. We meet Victor and his beloved dog, Sparky. There’s a terrible car accident tragedy and the dog gets killed. Of course Victor, being a clever guy, figures out how to reincarnate him. Where the story diverges is that Victor is now desperate to keep his dog a secret. He doesn’t really know if what he’s done is a great thing. He doesn’t tell his parents and he doesn’t tell his school friends… Of course, the other kids at school get wind of it and kind of want in.”

While it was only teased on the set visit, there’s every indication that we’ll be seeing a lot more pet-based monsters than just the titular canine. Each of Victor’s friends is based on an icon of classic horror cinema and endeavors to create a monster representative of that fact. Sketches on the production office wall point to everything from mummified hamsters to Gamera-scaled turtles.

Sounds pretty brilliant to me. If you’d like to read their full set report, you can click on over here. As he often does, the director is reteaming with a number of people with whom he’s worked in the past, and those lending their voices to the film include Winona Ryder, Catherine O’Hara, Martin Short, Martin Landau, Conchata Ferrell, and James Hiroyuki Liao.

Burton is naturally a renowned filmmaker, and we can look forward to seeing not one but two of his films next year. First, Dark Shadows will be coming to the big screen on 11^th May, and then Frankenweenie will be following at the tail-end of the year on 5^th October. These new images are every bit as brilliant as the first we saw just over a month ago, and show a huge amount of promise for the film. The level of detail and care that has clearly been taken to create these characters and sets is truly impressive. As usual, click to enlarge. Enjoy.

As the Pumpkin King, Jack Skellington spends his entire year planning for the next Halloween.  As a matter of fact, his entire town of Halloweentown does the same thing.  His latest stint as king has Jack questioning his place in life and after the events of Halloween are over, a somber Jack heads out for a walk and comes across a gathering of trees, each marked with a different door representing a holiday.  Jack enters the door of a decorated tree and finds himself in Christmastown.

What he finds is a town full of colors, cheer and happiness, which is a polar opposite from Halloweentown.  With an idea in his head and excitement in his belly, he heads back to Halloweentown with a plan.  That plan consists of kidnapping Santa Claus and appointing himself as the bearer of joy and gifts in an attempt to recapture his zest for life.  The combination of the two holidays however, end with disastrous but hilarious consequences.

There is no doubt that The Nightmare Before Christmas came from Tim Burton’s brain.  It was however, not directed by Burton, but by Henry Selick.  Having two strong, creative minds behind the world of Jack Skellington only made this film better.  Burton’s films always have a unique look to them.  From the sets, to the landscape, to the characters, you just know when you’re watching one of his movies.  One of the things I loved most about Nightmare is that its world is unlike anything I had seen previously.

Aside from the typical things associated with Halloween and Christmas, the landscape of the film was totally unique.  I loved the townsfolk and the dark and dreary element to Halloweentown.  Dried leaves, and bare branches. Tumbleweeds and wind.  It’s all so perfectly Halloween (depending on which part of the world you live in of course) but it also managed to be rather charming.  It goes without saying that the world of Christmastown was just as great.  Instead of dried leaves and barren hills, we’re treated to a snowy, bright, joyful realm with elves making toys and children riding sleds.  The worlds are polar opposites but fit in this film perfectly.  At least until Jack starts making and handing out his own presents.  Things get a little weird there.

Chris Sarandon (along with Danny Elfman in the singing portions) brings Jack to life through his voice.  Jack is a typical Burton character, but by no means is he forgettable.  He’s just a guy who goes about his life, and begins to question that life.  He’s quirky and even though he’s the Pumpkin King, he’s a bit of a misfit and a bit misunderstood.  I love these qualities about him.  Even though he’s revered in his town, he wants to be better.  That’s something that everyone feels at one point in their life.

The one aspect that this film truly grasps (for me at least) was that feeling of wonder that only comes with innocence.  I remember feeling awestruck at Christmas when we’d go look at the houses that were decorated, or once the tree was finished.  That sense of wonder only comes when you’re a child and slowly fades to something else as an adult.  Jack looks upon Christmastown with that same look of wonder and wants to be a part of it so bad.  I think that’s something that all of us can relate to.

When Pixar released WALL-E, the biggest thing I heard was how they were able to convey so much emotion without using any dialogue.  With Nightmare, I was amazed to see how much emotion could be conveyed when the character didn’t have any eyes.  Actually he didn’t even have a face per se.  Just a skull, devoid of flesh.  His facial expressions speak volumes and you know what he’s feeling just by his brow line.  A furrowed brow goes a long way in getting his point across.

As if this film wasn’t lively enough, adding the other characters enriched to the point of being a classic.  Sally (voiced by Catherine O’Hara), Lock, Shock, Barrell, the Mayor, Dr. Finklestein, Oogie Boogie all added to the tapestry of the film, but my favorite secondary character, was that of Jack’s ghost dog Zero. Don’t ask me why, I just love him.  Maybe it’s just because I’m a sucker for dogs.

This is a film that holds up to time and even now, 17 years later (yes it’s been that long) it still holds its appeal.  Doesn’t matter what I’m doing at the time, if it’s on, I have to sit and watch it.  The soundtrack is catchy, thanks to Danny Elfman, and there isn’t a Halloween/Christmas season that goes by without a viewing.

Once I get through the annual 24 hour A Christmas Story marathon that airs every year here in the States, I’m moving on to The Nightmare Before Christmas once again.  If you’ve never seen it, I highly recommend watching it.  If you have seen it, watch it again.  You won’t regret it.

We’re big fans of Jane Goldman here on HeyUGuys. Her work on Kick-Ass and X-Men: First Class was both kick-ass and first class and while we’re waiting with breath baited to see her adaptation of Susan Hill’s The Woman in Black for Hammer Deadline have announced that she is in talks to adapt the novel Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children.

Written by novelist and filmmaker Ransom Riggs the movie adaptation has Tim Burton ‘circling’ the project and it seems tailor-made for the director whose recent films have made a huge amount of money at the same time as making long time Burtonians irate. His Alice in Wonderland adaptation disappointed many, and perhaps there the expectations were too high; there was certainly something in Linda Woolverton’s script however the end result may not have matched the film the director’s fans were playing in their minds before sitting down in the cinemas.

Goldman has done some fine work of late with the two scripts mentioned perviously lining up well with her adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s Stardust to create an impressive body of work. If she (and Burton) sign up for Miss Pregrine then expect fans to combust with anticipation, and with Burton finished with Dark Shadows and Frankenweenie currently filming there’s a gap in the road ahead which may well be filled with a host of Peculiar Children.

Here’s the blurb-o-synopsis floating around on the murky surface of the internet,

A mysterious island. An abandoned orphanage. And a strange collection of very curious photographs. It all waits to be discovered in “Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children”, an unforgettable novel that mixes fiction and photography in a thrilling reading experience. As our story opens, a horrific family tragedy sets sixteen-year-old Jacob journeying to a remote island off the coast of Wales, where he discovers the crumbling ruins of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. As Jacob explores its abandoned bedrooms and hallways, it becomes clear that the children who once lived here – one of whom was his own grandfather – were more than just peculiar. They may have been dangerous. They may have been quarantined on a desolate island for good reason. And somehow – impossible though it seems – they may still be alive. A spine-tingling fantasy illustrated with haunting vintage photography, “Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children” will delight adults, teens, and anyone who relishes an adventure in the shadows.

And the author’s website has this intriguing trailer which was directed by the man himself which sets the tone and whets the appetite for the cinematic collision of Goldman and Burton.

More as we hear it…

Tim Burton, beloved director of such dark and brilliant films as Edward Scissorhands, Sleepy Hollow, Sweeney Todd, and many more cult classics, is well known and noted for his unique oddness of vision that he brings to all his films.

So the news that he’s in early talks to come on board a novel entitled, Miss Peregrine’s Home For Curious Children, sounds like a match made in heaven.

Deadline report that after 20th Century Fox and Chernin Entertainment picked Ransom Riggs’ novel’s rights up last year, Burton is in talks with them to develop the project, with an eye to potentially direct it, and it will also be Burton tasked with finding the film’s writer.

The original novel focuses on Jacob,

“a 16-year-old whose childhood was filled with stories his grandfather told him about an orphanage for unusual children. Among the residents: a girl who could hold fire in her hands, another whose feet never touched the ground, and twins who communicated without speaking. When his beloved grandfather dies unexpectedly but leaves a message behind for his grandson, the teen heads off to his grandfather’s home on an isolated island off Wales. There he discovers the abandoned remains of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. It is in great disrepair and as Jacob explores its bedrooms and hallways, he can see the children were more than peculiar, they might have been there because they were dangerous. And he can’t shake the feeling they are still lurking around.”

Just reading that synopsis conjures up Burton-esque images in your mind, which is why it seems so apt that he’s in talks to develop the project, and I’m hoping that talks will go well. Whether Burton chooses to direct or not, it will be interesting to see who is cast as the young Jacob in such an eerie and mysterious tale. Though I’ve not read the novel, if Burton were to direct it, I hope that there’ll be a part in there for long-time friend and collaborator Johnny Depp, simply because they work so well together.

The pair have teamed up once more for Burton’s next film, Dark Shadows, which is due out in the UK on 11th May next year, a date to set down in your mental film release calendars, and Burton will be following that up with his stop-motion animated film, Frankenweenie, set to be released towards the end of next year. After that, his schedule is looking pretty light, so there could well be a place in it for Miss Peregrine’s Home For Curious Children. Only time will tell, and you can be sure we’ll bring you the news when it comes in.

A little later than we’d hoped to get a post up but here’s the first couple of images from Tim Burton’s Frankenweenie. The voice cast in the movie includes Winona Ryder, Martin Short, Catherine O’Hara, Martin Landau, Charlie Tahan, Atticus Shaffer, Robert Capron, Conchata Ferrell and it’s expected for release October 5th 2012 so only a year to wait people!

Two of the images below show the models actually in their scene from the movie and the third shows Burton holding Sparky the dog.

From creative genius Tim Burton (“Alice in Wonderland,” The Nightmare Before Christmas”) comes “Frankenweenie,” a heartwarming tale about a boy and his dog. After unexpectedly losing his beloved dog Sparky, young Victor harnesses the power of science to bring his best friend back to life—with just a few minor adjustments. He tries to hide his home-sewn creation, but when Sparky gets out, Victor’s fellow students, teachers and the entire town all learn that getting a new “leash on life” can be monstrous.

A stop-motion animated film, “Frankenweenie” will be filmed in black and white and rendered in 3D, which will elevate the classic style to a whole new experience.

In Tim Burton’s “Frankenweenie” young Victor conducts a science experiment to bring his beloved dog Sparky back to life, only to face unintended, sometimes monstrous, consequences.

Click the images below to enlarge.

We got our first photos from the set of Tim Burton’s next film, Dark Shadows, last month and they gave us a brief glimpse at Johnny Depp’s return to the gothic world of Burton’s mind as Barnabas Collins, an eighteenth century man-turned-vampire dug up in 1972.

The first official photos from the film have now surfaced over at Empire, and they give us an interesting look not just at Depp’s character, who in fact looks rather different from the set photos, but also show us the rest of the cast looking fantastic in their costumes too.

The film, based on the 1960s TV series of the same name, revolves around Depp’s character, Barnabas:

“In 1752, the Collins family sails from Liverpool, England to North America. The son, Barnabas, grows up to be a wealthy playboy in Collinsport, Maine and is the master of Collinwood Manor. He breaks the heart of a witch, Angelique Bouchard, who turns him into a vampire and buries him alive. In 1972, Barnabas is freed and returns to find his manor in ruin. It is occupied by dysfunctional descendants and other residents, all of whom have secrets.”

The script for Dark Shadows is written by Seth Grahame-Smith, author of Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter and Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, both of which are being adapted for the big screen. Grahame-Smith has said of the film’s setting in 1972,

“Tim and Johnny took a long time explaining exactly why it had to be 1972. 1969 was too early and 1973 was too late. 1972 is right at the time when the hippie movement and all its peace and love is dying out and being replaced by this  me-me-me generation in the ’70s who are all about showing their wealth and having everything.”

Definitely interesting stuff. Along with Depp, the terrific cast includes Eva Green, Christopher Lee, Jackie Earle Haley, Chloë Grace Moretz, Johnny Lee Miller, Bella Heathcote, a cameo from Alice Cooper, and of course, frequent collaborator of Burton and Depp’s, and Burton’s partner in real life, Helena Bonham Carter.

These fantastic new photos give us a look at the majority of this cast, and show Depp in the first photo looking a little different to how we first saw him in the set photos. His hair is looking particularly excellent in this, and with Depp having a way of bringing such different characters to life, I’m always eager to see what his next performance is going to be like. Dark Shadows is due to come out on 11^th May next year in the States, and we can hopefully look forward to a similar release date here in the UK. Without further ado, here are the new official photos to enjoy. As usual, click to enlarge.

Nestled a few miles west of London sits Pinewood Studios, still looking as sprightly as ever, but having today reached the grand old age of 75.

And what a 75 years it has been. Though the landscape of cinema has changed beyond recognition in that time (fads have come and gone, new filming techniques have been developed and refined, entire genres have been popularised, then forgotten, then revived), Pinewood remains.

Bought by building tycoon Charles Boot in the early 1930′s, Pinewood was then turned into a studio through a joint venture between Boot and J Arthur Rank, the name being settled on because according to Boot:-

“of the number of trees which grow there and because it seemed to suggest something of the American film centre in its second syllable.”

The studios officially opened their doors on 30th September 1936 and since then has been home to some of the largest scale productions imaginable. The 007 stage was built for The Spy Who Loved Me in the late 1970′s and has accommodated a whole host of Bondian adventures up to and including Quantum of Solace. Check out the video below for the mind-boggling dimensions of this legendary stage.

What else has Pinewood been home to I hear you ask? Try this lot on for size:-

• Much of Michael Powell’s early output, including Black Narcissus, The Red Shoes and Peeping Tom
• A Night To Remember, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and The Ipcress File
• Superman, Bugsy Malone, Battle of Britain
• Clash of the Titans (1981), Little Shop of Horrors, Santa Claus: The Movie, Patriot Games, Mission: Impossible
• Patriot Games, The Fifth Element, Event Horizon, Alien 3, Batman
• Tomb Raider, United 93, The Bourne Ultimatum, Captain America, The Dark Knight, HP and the Deathly Hallows
• The Hobbit, Hugo, Kick-Ass, Aliens, Children of Men

I could go on. At some length. What an almighty legacy. The studio continues to thrive, with Tim Burton returning after Sweeney Todd and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory to shoot his next film, Dark Shadows there. The Hobbit and Snow White & The Huntsman are hardly small-fry either.

So if you have them to hand, raise your glasses to Pinewood Studios and its “diamond plus something but not yet platinum” anniversary. What is my favourite of what has been shot there so far? It’s probably not The Da Vinci Code or Tomb Raider. Gosh, this is like trying to pick your favourite child. I guess it would have to be either Aliens or The Bourne Ultimatum. What’s yours?

Steven Spielberg has added another quality name to his already esteemed line-up of actors in his forthcoming biopic of Abraham Lincoln by casting Watchmen’s Jackie Earle Haley.

Deadline brings news that the Little Children star will play another villain of sorts in the form of Alexander Stephens, an opposer of Lincoln’s slavery reform agenda. He’ll join the likes of Tommy Lee Jones, Sally Field, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, John Hawkes, David Strathairn, Walton Goggins and Daniel Day-Lewis (in the titular role) in the film, entitled Lincoln, this autumn.

Comeback king Haley is currently working with another starry ensemble in the form of Tim Burton’s next horror yarn, Dark Shadows.

Dark Shadows will see Johnny Depp joining up with director Tim Burton for the 784th time in their careers, collaborating once again for a project with dark, gothic tones.

Dark Shadows was a cult TV show that ran in the latter half of the 1960′s, containing such genre staples as vampires, zombies, witches, werewolves and ghosts. It is of course massively unsurprising to find Burton and Depp interested in this sort of thing.

Depp will play Barnabas Collins and shooting is underway as the snaps below amply testify. Dark Shadows will be released into the gloomy twilight in May next year, finding itself up against pretty much every superhero on the planet in the process. It will be interesting to see if it can hold its own. Michelle Pfeiffer, Helena Bonham Carter, Eva Green, Jackie Earle Haley, Jonny Lee Miller, Bella Heathcote, Chloe Moretz and Gulliver McGrath are all on board as well.

Source: Coming Soon.

Walt Disney Pictures have unveiled the official logo for Frankenweenie, a full-length stop-motion animation based on the 1984 short.

Directed by Tim Burton (The Nightmare Before Christmas), Frankenweenie features the voice talents of Winona Ryder, Charlie Tahan, Michael Keaton, Catherine O’Hara, Martin Landau, Martin Short, Atticus Shaffer, Robert Capron and Conchata Ferrell.

After unexpectedly losing his beloved dog Sparky, young Victor harnesses the power of science to bring his best friend back to life—with just a few minor adjustments. He tries to hide his home-sewn creation, but when Sparky gets out, Victor’s fellow students, teachers and the entire town all learn that getting a new “leash on life” can be monstrous.

Frankenweenie will be released on October 5, 2012.

Check out the official logo embedded below:

Source: Comingsoon

It appears now that not even Disney is safe from the economic crisis that has gripped the world economy as of late. Up until a few days ago, the studio giant was poised to start production on a modern adaptation of the classic 1930s radio and tv show The Lone Ranger. However apparently the film’s extremely swollen budget of $250 million was just a tad bit outside of Disney’s budgetary comfort zone. The film, which was already deep into the casting process, and had so far locked down Armie Hammer (The Social Network) as the film’s masked crusader, and Johnny Depp as his, now politically correct, sidekick Tonto. Now it seems that the production is on a brief hiatus while Producers struggle to trim so of the budgetary fat.

The Lone Ranger is set to be the 4th feature collaboration between Depp and all star Director Gore Verbinski. This same duo had already pulled in billions of dollars in net profit for Disney with their first three Pirates of the Caribbean films, and their latest effort, Rango, also grossed over $240 million. With the odds of financial success so heavily in their favor, it makes one wonder why in the world the Disney is scared to bank of another tentpole film. Perhaps the thought of having to compete with the Hobbit in 2012 was just too much for even Depp and Verbinski to overcome, or maybe they just wanted to wait and see if John Carter flops before making any other $200 million dollar decisions.

All things considered, perhaps this really was the best course of action. $250 million dollars is way too much for a movie of any genre let alone a western. Film budgets these days have just gotten way out of control and perhaps these economic hardships are exactly the wake up call the industry needs. John Ford shot The Searchers for under $5 million and still managed to rope in John Wayne! There’s no justification for shelling out 20 million just to have Johnny Depp in your film when there are hoards of unknown talents just waiting to be discovered. This new scaled back approach is the same thing that hopefully saved Akira from disaster, and I can only imagine we’ll see a similar result here. Variety reported earlier that Disney was only looking to cut about $30 million dollars bringing the whole budget down to around $200 million. This budget could easily be scaled down another $100 million and still be quite profitable. The film is set in a desert, it doesn’t need a $100 million in special effects (unless they are planning a tie in with Cowboys & Aliens that is). You could save at least $80 million by weeding out some of your overpaid above the line actors! Do yourself a favor Disney, cut your budget in half. You’ll thank me later.

Many of you will be happy to learn that famed composer Danny Elfman has kiss and made up with former collaborator Sam Raimi, and will be performing scoring duties on the director’s next feature (the reworking of the Wizard of Oz, Oz The Great and Powerful).

Elfman famously fell out with The Evil Dead helmer during production on Spiderman 2, having forged a successful working relationship which began as far back as 1990’s Darkman. Elfman was very vocal with his grievances at the time, where he seemed to suggest it was a seismic shift of ego on Raimi’s behalf which drove a wedge between the two.

Good to see they’ve been able to patch things up. Elfman’s work with the director resembled the same symbiosis he shares with Tim Burton, and it’s also nice to know that the composer didn’t return due to financial reasons. With a roster of upcoming work on a number of high-profile projects (the adaptation of The Hunger Games, Men in Black 3, robot boxing drama Real Steel and two future projects with Burton) it looks like Elfman has never been busier.

Via The Playlist.

After leaving the film adaptation of video game Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune last month, David O. Russell is now one of the front-runners Disney are considering to direct their fantasy film, Maleficent, a live-action retelling of the Sleeping Beauty story, THR report.

The film has Angelina Jolie attached as the lead, Maleficent, the wicked witch that casts the curse upon the Princess to put her to sleep for 100 years, until she is kissed by the Prince.

Tim Burton was originally to direct the film, but when he left the project earlier this year, the director’s chair was left empty, and Russell is one of the names Disney are now considering to fill the position. The film is to be told from the witch’s perspective, and has been written by Linda Woolverton, who’s worked with Disney for two decades, being involved with writing Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King, Mulan, and last year’s Alice in Wonderland. That Maleficent is to be the protagonist would certainly suggest that the film is a darker take on the traditional Disney tale, and that would definitely make it something to look forward to in my books.

Russell is a brilliant director, whose film, The Fighter, won him his first Academy Award nomination for Best Director last year. If Maleficent is going to be a darker version of the fairy tale, it would be something very different to the kind of films we’ve seen Russell direct to date. All of the features that he’s made so far have had a very different feel to them, even with his frequent collaboration with Mark Wahlberg, so taking on what could well be such a dark tale would give him something entirely new to work on.

Nothing is confirmed yet as to Russell’s role as director, but after Burton left the project earlier in the year, Disney will likely want to cast another very talented director to take his place, and Russell definitely fits that criterion. Both Russell and Jolie’s schedules are relatively well-matched at the moment to work out a schedule that could potentially see Maleficent ready for release by the end of next year, so here’s to hoping that the film’s director will be announced sooner rather than later, and then begins the search for the Princess and her Prince, and the rest of the tale’s cast.