Last night, the first photos of Johnny Depp as vampire Barnabas Collins in director Tim Burton’s adaption of the 1970s gothic horror soap opera Dark Shadows surfaced.
As you can see, he appears to be heavily mad up, which has caused some folks to snark that he looks like a variation of his character from Charlie And The Chocolate Factory or a goth Michael Jackson. I’d point out that while the pictures aren’t very encouraging, I would hold off on passing strict judgement on Burton’s look for the character until we get to see some actual footage from the film. The makeup we’re seeing here could be something that needs to be exaggerated for various filming purposes or it could be down to something plot related, i.e., some really heavy sunscreen that allows Barnabas to be out during the day.
Dark Shadows also stars Michelle Pfeiffer, Helena Bonham Carter, Eva Green, Jackie Earle Haley, Jonny Lee Miller, Bella Heathcote, Chloe Moretz and Gulliver McGrath and is set for a May 11, 2012 release.
