New ‘Dark Shadows’ Image Reveals Johnny Depp Is Not Playing as Michael Jackson

By Mike Lee • January 13, 2012 • 4 Comments

Let’s take a moment to breathe on huge sigh of relief. As the headline says Johnny Depp will not be playing as some ultra creepy undead Michael Jackson in Tim Burton’s adaptation of Dark Shadows. That last photo we revealed, had Depp in the far back of a portrait featuring the entire cast and it made him look as though he was playing as a zombified version of the King of Pop. But in this latest photo from EW, we are getting a better look at Depp, who stands alongside Michelle Pfiffer. Also in this report, we are getting a few details from Tim Burton. But take a look at the photo first.

When MTV asked what stage he’s in with Dark Shadows, Burton says,

Panicking. That stage. We’re editing and doing effects. It’s not an effects-heavy picture, but it’s still got stuff in there. There’s a strange tone to the movie. … It’s got such a strange vibe. And it’s not something that a lot of people necessarily know. You’re trying to do a weird soap opera. I felt really lucky, because the cast is really good. People like Michelle [Pfeiffer] grew up watching it. Some of the cast knew about it. Some didn’t, but they were all game for it — getting into the weird spirit of what “Dark Shadows” was. It has a weird sense of heightened melodrama. … It was hard to put into words the tone it was. It had a weird seriousness, but it was funny in a way that wasn’t really funny. We just had to feel our way through it to find the tone. We didn’t do any real rehearsals, because the cast all came in at different times. But there was an old photo of the [original] cast which I always remembered, so a couple days before shooting, we got the whole cast together to take a similar shot so everyone could see each other and get that vibe from doing a group photo. That helped set the tone more than anything.

Dark Shadows opens on May 11.

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