What The Hell Is Burton Doing...

This just in...it appears that Tim Burton is tossing out a flaming bag for us to step on, once again...sigh...

I am a Tim Burton fan.  He has designed and directed some of my favorite films.  When I heard he was going to be doing a film remake of 'Dark Shadows', I must admit that I met the news with a bit of trepidation.

The chief reason for my unease is his attempt to remake the cult family favorite 'Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory'.  At that time when news broke about his new project, Burton said that he was never happy with the Willy Wonka film with Gene Wilder, and his goal was to make a film that was more true to the book.  He didn't feel that the original production did it justice.  At first I was pretty excited, especially when I heard Johnny Depp would be donning the hat of Mr. Wonka.  In the end, the result was beyond disappointing.  Depp's portrayal of Wonka was interesting from an acting standpoint, but when relating it to the film, book, and original production, well...let's just say that Burton tossed us a goose egg.  Very disappointing, and pointless.  Another example of why I think remakes of well received and good films should never be done.  From the beginning, Burton had his work cut out for him.   In the end, he didn't deliver.

Now he is making a film version of one of the most popular series/soap operas to ever hit television.  To this day it has one of the bigger cult followings, and it's unique bent/subject matter, when looking at the world of the soap opera has never been matched.  Wonka had me disappointed, but Burton came back with a vengeance when 'Sweeney Todd' came out (love that film).  It was Todd that had my hopes slightly up when news came out of him making a 'Dark Shadows' film.  Then I saw these photos...

What is Burton thinking?!  What is this get-up he has on Depp?  And what about the white clown make-up? If anything, Burton's biggest hurtle on this project is the huge fan base of the original show.  If these photos are any indication as to what he's doing, I think he's going to end up with egg on his face.  I am trying really hard to keep my jury out until I see the actual film, but photos like these can make it really hard.

I guess we will just have to wait and see...

(Here is a link to my previous post about the Dark Shadows film.)