Due for release on May 11 of this year, the early promotional work for Dark Shadows has been nearly non-existent. Beyond a cast photo released a few months ago, there hasn’t been anything else in the realm of official promotion.  No posters, commercials or trailers, but at least we now have a few still images of scenes to take a look at.

The first shot shows Johnny Depp as the vampire Barnabas Collins apparently saying something unsettling to Michelle Pfeiffer as Elizabeth Collins Stoddard.

And a solo shot of Depp as Barnabas.

Hopefully there will be some sort of larger publicity push in the not too distant future so we know exactly where this film is going in terms of style … you know, besides just being a Tim Burton film.

[via The Hollywood Reporter]

It wasn’t a very happy year at the box office in 2011, and while the total for the year dropping was bad enough, some movies suffered more than others.

While there are always certain to be films each year that don’t fare well at the box office, some did spectacularly bad this year. Even bankable stars like Johnny Depp showed that not everything he touches is guaranteed to turn to fold.

As you look over this chart, keep in mind that a movie is considered successful when it doubles its production budget domestically to account for marketing costs.  Foreign box office loses a larger chunk due to international distribution deals, so even though some films have a higher total gross than their budget, it still doesn’t mean they made money.

Even though Mars Needs Moms was the biggest loser by dollar amount, I’m really focused on The Big Year.  The latter crashed and burned in such a way that it is mind boggling.  When you factor in it wasn’t even that large of a budget, to see it bring in just over $7 million worldwide, you really have to wonder how it went so horribly wrong.  We’re talking nearly art house film money here it did so badly, and its widest release point in the U.S. it had 2,150 screens.  True, huge films now come in at over 3,000 screens, but 2,150 isn’t exactly small and that means total per screen average domestically was $3,333.20.  That, by Hollywood standards, is a total disaster.

The list of films definitely has some large budget disasters, it’s also interesting to see how “modestly” budgeted films also didn’t fare all that well.  The Rum Diary was probably risky to begin with, but seeing it not even bring in its $40 million dollar budget is surprising when Depp has more billion dollar movies under his belt than anyone else.  I Don’t Know How She Does It has probably shown that the love affair with Sarah Jessica Parker has definitely come to an end.

When you add in how Happy Feet Two performed with Mars Needs Moms catastrophic failure, it also looks like the age of animated films being easy hits is quickly drawing to a close.  There was a time where every animated film brought in just insane amounts of money, but their performance has been dropping more and more lately, and these two have definitely set a new bar.

I’ll try not to laugh at how Conan the Barbarian performed, but it’s difficult to not to.  And Green Lantern … for having the biggest budget, this may actually end up being the flop that sticks in most people’s minds when they think back on 2011.

It’s obvious that even after all these years that the film studios don’t have a clue as to what they’re doing, and when a film is a “hit,” it really just has to be pure luck.

One note: New Year’s Eve is still in release, but it doesn’t look like it’s going to do a lot more.

Apparently people who missed going to the theaters last weekend due to the weather made up for it this weekend by keeping last week’s top contender rolling in the catnip.

Falling a mere 3.1% from last weekend, Puss in Boots brought in another $33 million. This is probably a little bit of an oddity due to the weather, but hey, when you set a new record, you set a new record for the smallest drop ever for a wide release.

The new Ben Stiller comedy Tower Heist came in second with $25.1 million, a lower than usual opening for one of his movies, and definitely lower for Eddie Murphy, his costar.

Stoner comedies might be falling in popularity somewhat judging by the performance of A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas, coming in below Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay, and seeing as 95% of the attendance was at 3D locations, that means attendance was even lower due to the higher ticket prices.  The true story will be told in the coming weeks.

Paranormal Activity 3 came in fourth with another $8.5 million bringing the domestic gross to $95.3 off of a $5 million dollar budget.  That puts it only $12 million behind the original film, and it seems like it could easily surpass it.

In Time, the new Justin Timberlake action vehicle , slipped into fifth place with $7.7 million, not leaving thins to hopeful this ending up being a big film. I can’t say I’m overly surprised.

The only big release for next weekend is J. Edgar, so don’t expect to see too many changes in the line up of what folks are going to see.

21 Jump Street was always an idiotic concept for a TV show, but the series lingers on people’s memories because it ended up launching the career of some unknown actor named Johnny Depp.

Comedic actor Jonah Hill picked up the rights to the television series and while it wasn’t clear if he was going serious with the project or not, and … no, he isn’t.  Although Depp will have a cameo somewhere in the film, this looks like it will be nothing but being close to a parody fo the original TV series, which few people remember, and it will just turn into another vehicle for Hill.

You can see the red band trailer below (meaning it isn’t safe for work) and judge for yourself, but this looks just about as unentertaining as possible.

An unseasonably early snow storm in the upper northeast put a damped on the box office this weekend, but that couldn’t keep the first spin off film from the Shrek series from scoring a nice chunk of change.

Snow in the northeast kept the box office receipts a bit lower than expected this weekend, but Puss in Boots, the first spin off film from the Shrek series still brought in around $33 million this weekend.

Falling to second place with a 64% slide was Paranormal Activity 3 with $19 million.  This brings its domestic total to $81 million, and considering the $5 million dollar budget, I would hazard to guess we can expect a Paranormal Activity 4 in our futures.

The new Justin Timberlake action vehicle In Time came in third with a pretty soft $12 million.  Not too surprising to be honest, the trailers read much more as a home viewing experience to me than a must see in the theaters.

Footloose feel to fourth place with $5.5 million bringing its cumulative total to $38.5 million. Off of a $24 million budget this film is still clearly in the red, and it isn’t looking too good for making it to the black during its theatrical run.

Rounding out the top five was the new Johnny Depp film, The Rum Diary, once again proving that not everything he touches turns to gold.

This week sees everything going heavy on comedy with the release of A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas and Tower Heist.

Disney has flipped the switch, and the Johnny Depp Lone Ranger film is back on for production.

This past August Disney shut down production on the upcoming Lone Ranger film due to spiraling production costs that had the movie looking like it would cost between $250 and $275 million to produce.  The company approched director Gore Verbinksi about lowering the cost, but he was only able to get it down to $232 million.  Considering the high profile flop of Cowboys & Aliens this summer, obviously a studio would be nervous about putting a lot of money into a western.

Production was halted and there was no indication if things would resume.

According to Deadline, Disney has flipped the switch back to green for the film to start filming on February 6, 2012 in New Mexico due to the budget having fallen further to $215 million.  (I still don’t understand how you can spend that much on a western, but oh well.)  There’s no word on if all of the cast is still in place, but the most recent plans call for Depp to play Tonto with Armie Hammer as the Lone Ranger and Ruth Wilson, Dwight Yoakam, Helena Bonham Carter, James Badge Dale and Barry Pepper in various other roles.

It’ll be interesting to see how this turns out, and we’ll see see if it can even come close to making a profit.

At long last, Johnny Depp’s dream project of a Dark Shadows movie is becoming a reality, and of course he brought Tim Burton along for the ride.

For those unfamiliar with the property, Dark Shadows was a gothic soap opera that ran on ABC from 1966 to 1971.  It centered around the mysterious Collins family and included all sorts of mysterious overtones and, oh yeah, a vampire.  Over the course of its run it built a huge cult following that lasts to this day, and counts amongst its number Johnny Depp and Tim Burton.

This is a project that has circulated around Depp for years, but due to the fairly niche audience it would go for, no one was really willing to fund it.  However, when your name is “Depp,” and you’ve stared in nearly half of the highest grossing films of all time, apparently people will take a gamble on you finally.  Add in the fact that he wanted to play the lead of Barnabas Collins – yes, the vampire – and you can understand why someone finally coughed up the budget for this.

A cast photo has been released for the new film that you can see below which seems to have been in reaction to some leaked set photos that showed Depp wearing heavy amounts of make-up that made him look nothing like the original character.  Now we’re left to wonder what was up with those images because in this photo he looks dead-on with the original series.  (click the image for a slightly larger view)

And here is a cast photo from the television series.

For those who care to learn more about the production, you can read the initial filming press release after the break. In the meantime, judging by this picture, Tim Burton has gathered up the usual suspects for his films with a few new additions. (Oh yeah! Chloe Moretz from Kick-Ass! Woo!)  How this will play with audiences, who knows, but Burton & Depp have yet to let me down when they team up.

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Disney has halted production on the upcoming Lone Ranger film that was due to start filming this fall with Johnny Depp in the role of Tonto.

Slated for release December 21, 2012, the new Lone Ranger film was due to tell the story of the character from the vantage point of Tonto, hence why Johnny Depp had been cast in the role.  The film has already signed Armie Hammer as the Lone Ranger and Ruth Wilson, Dwight Yoakam, Helena Bonham Carter, James Badge Dale and Barry Pepper in various other roles.  (Depp and Carter in a film not directed by Tim Burton … is that allowed?)  Gore Verbinksi was to helm the film, and is best known for directing the first three Pirates of the Caribbean films, all of which starred Depp and made a tremendous amount of money for Disney.

It seems the production was halted due to ballooning production costs which had hit $250 million.  Verbinksi had gotten it down to $232 million, but Disney is looking to spend around $200 million due to the number of other expensive productions has on its plate currently.

$250 million for what is essentially a cowboy movie?  Heck, even the $200 million Disney is looking to spend, how in the world do you hit those numbers on a film that is essentially a bunch of people on horses?  Verbinksi is known for his huge budgets with the third Pirates film, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End, clocked in at $300 million.  I think that perhaps this is a director that need to go take some sort of class on learning how to manage his finances because the budgets he is turning in are just outlandish.  You can somewhat understand them on the three Pirate films because any time you involve water in a film the budget shoots way up, but, again, this is a movie set in the Old West … on horses … all on dry land.  How is he spending this much money?  Oh, I know, the Lone Ranger is famous for his silver bullets, Verbinksi must have gone for “realism” and ordered them cast in real silver.  Silly me.

Apparently Disney will be going forward with this movie, but only once the budget has been brought down into a range they find acceptable.  There is no word on how long that may take, nor what it may due to the targeted release date as of yet.

Apparently Johnny Depp and Disney are ready to deepen their relationship even further, and it includes one of the best properties of the 1970′s: Kolchak, the Night Stalker.

Considering the current success of Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, Disney is sure to be even more in love with Mr. Depp.  He’s already signed for a Lone Ranger movie with the studio, and he’s in talks for Pirates of the Caribbean 5. Now it seems his development studio, Infinitum Nihil, has sold them two more projects. The first is a movie based around Paul Revere’s midnight ride that may see him playing the famous American.  It’s the second project that made me go, “YES! MAKE THIS NOW!”

While I am not a fan of remakes or re-imaginings, Kolchak, the Night Stalker was a series that lasted half a season and two TV movies, and may be one of the greatest tragedies of short lived series ever.  (Yes, even more so than Firefly.)  Just about anyone in horror today lists this series as an influence, and it impacted X-Files so deeply they even tried to integrate the character into the mythos.  They were never able to get the character into the show, but they did get Darren McGavin, the man who played him,  to play a role in the series as a nod to its influence.

There was a horrible remake on ABC a few seasons ago, but the idea of Depp as Kolchak?  I’ll buy my ticket now.  Why will I break my hatred of remakes in this case?  That is how badly I want more of this character in my life.  While a goodly portion was the wonderfulness of McGavin, the series was so well written, and the stories so original that pretty much anyone who watched it still gets misty-eyed just thinking back on it.

Deep down I know I will probably end up disappointed, but I will give it a try.  I have faith in Depp, and I can totally see him in this roll … oh please let this happen, and please let it not suck.

And if you’ve never seen the original series … run, do not walk, and watch it.  It is truly amazing and special.

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides has passed into the history books as only the eighth film to ever cross the $1 billion dollar global box office benchmark.

While Transformers 3 was conquering the box office all over the world this weekend, history was being made quietly in the background.  Despite the fact the fourth Pirates of the Caribbean met mixed reviews and income here in the United States, globally it has been tearing up the box office receipts.  It is now the seventh biggest money maker ever, standing at $1.008 billion dollars.  But the history doesn’t end there.

Disney currently holds the fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh spots on the list; two of those films are from the Pirates series, and three of them star Johnny Depp.

Why do I think Mr. Depp is going to be cast in every Disney movie from now until his death?

The moral of the story is, while the American box office is still important, 76.8 percent of this film’s revenue came in from foreign markets.  While pundits here have scoffed at this film, the foreign numbers alone make it worth making a fifth film in the series, and even if it had done $0 here, it would still be in the realm of being worthwhile to go again.

This is not an isolated case either. Kung-Fu Panda 2 has not done well domestically, but 70.7 percent of its worldwide total has come from foreign markets, and it now stands at $536.5 million.  Once again, people have commented on its poor performance here, but globally it’s raking in a very healthy amount.

While the lion’s share of these hauls still comes from the U.S., perhaps it’s time to realize just how important the foreign markets are and pay them the respect they are due.

With that in mind, get ready for Pirates of the Caribbean 5.

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides may not be tearing up the domestic box office, but it’s doing something right overseas. As a matter of fact, it’s doing a whole lot of things right.

The fourth installment in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise has been disappointing in the U.S. box office, bringing in only $221.5 million thus far.  While some movies would kill for that number, that is not so great compared to the other three films in the series.  What is making everyone take notice, however, is how it is doing in the foreign box office.

To date it has brought in $753.2 million making for a combined total of $956.7 million.  This is enough to make it the tenth highest grossing film worldwide, putting it only $6.7 million behind Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End, the third film in the series.  It has a real shot at becoming only the eighth film to ever break the $1 billion dollar global mark, and the third time for Disney.

The other Disney films to do it?  Alice in Wonderland and Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest … both of which happen to star Johnny Depp.

Yep, Mr. Depp currently has the honor of having starred in four of the top 10 grossing films of all time across the world.  Three of them were films in the Pirates franchise, and the other was the afore mentioned Alice. His highest spot right now is with Dead Man’s Chest, which is at the number four spot with $1.066 billion.

Normally everything is judged by domestic box office because it is more expensive to distribute films internationally, but there is no way that you can turn a blind eye to these numbers.  A lot of people are making money off of this film, and no one is going to really care where it came from.

There is no doubt some people will wonder why Pirates of the Caribbean 5 is in our theaters some time down the road, and there will be a very good reason why … the world still loves Capt. Jack even if American’s are tiring of him.

It’s a sad day when Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides making $90 million in its opening weekend is somewhat of a disappointment.

The fourth installment in the Pirates of the Caribbean film series has gone to show that there is definitely a law of diminishing returns when it comes to some sequels.  Opening on a whopping 4,155 screens, the film brought in $90.1 million this weekend, a $21,685 per-screen average, which is nothing to crow about.  Adjusting for inflation, the attendance was way off for this entry in the series, but the true test will be how it holds up in the coming weeks.

Oddly enough, according to Box Office Mojo, the film did really well in the foreign markets, bringing in $256.3 million, and setting records in multiple countries for an opening weekend.  Despite the lower than expected domestic opening, the franchise still has some life in it, and a fifth film in the series seems almost guaranteed when you count in home video sales and television rights.

In the interesting realm this weekend, Bridesmaids held on to second place, bringing in $21 million this weekend, only dropping 19.8% from its opening weekend.  A normal drop in the second weekend is more in the range of 50%, so it looks like this all female comedy may have the makings of a sleeper comedy hit, especially when you factor in its $32.5 million budget.

Thor fell to third place, bringing in $15.5 million, bringing its total to $146 million domestically.

In fourth place was Fast Five with another $10.6 million, bringing its total to $186.2 million, and it became the most successful of the series as of this past week.  The Fast and the Furious series has shown that some series can go on to be even bigger as it goes on,which makes the Pirates of the Caribbean performance this weekend that much more stark in contrast.

Some days the mysteries of the film industry are just astounding.