Corona | Coming Attractions

The first trailer for Dark Shadows, the next collaboration between Johnny Depp and director Tim Burton, is here. And it's not what we were expecting at all.

Instead of a serious approach to the gothic horror like the original soap opera took, Burton's film casts a comedic shadow over the setting like his earlier movie Beetlejuice.

See for yourself:

Here's a new photo of Johnny Depp being directed by Tim Burton on the Dark Shadows set. It also provides us with our first up-close look at Depp's vampire makeup.

A second new photo showing Burton, Michelle Pfeiffer and Jonny Lee Miller can be seen only at Empire.

Michelle Pfeiffer is in talks and Helena Bonham Carter is likely to star in Dark Shadows. The former casting should come as no surprise as Carter is the longtime partner and frequent star in hubby Tim Burton's films. Pfeiffer worked with Burton back in 1991 on Batman Returns.

If the deals fall into place Pfeiffer would play Elizabeth Collins Stoddard, the matriarch of the Collins family. Carter would play Dr. Julia Hoffman, a blood disorder specialist.

The Dark Shadows movie team has hired a man familiar with vampires to pen the screenplay. Seth Grahame-Smith, the novelist of Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, has been hired to write the movie's story. Grahame-Smith also penned the Pride and Prejudice and Zombies novel which is also in development as a movie.

The IMAX Corporation have reaffirmed its commitment to release up to 20 new Warner Bros. films over the next three years. One of the films that IMAX announced as being on the list was Dark Shadows. This would indicate that Warner Bros. has plans on having this film done and ready for release by 2013. [Full story]