New Action-Packed Images from "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter"

USA Today provides six more action-packed images from Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. Producer Jim Lemley also provides some information on the upcoming film, but beware of a few SPOILERS:



"Norman Rockwell in 1965 did a painting called Lincoln the Railsplitter," says producer Jim Lemley. "He's in his prime, about 30 years old, with an ax. It's an amazing painting and exactly what we had in mind. And Benjamin [Walker, who plays Lincoln] had that. "


"Our vampires are the core manifestation of evil," says producer Lemley. "If they are left unchecked, it will result in the destruction of humanity. Our bad guys are bad." Yet one of the undead decides to assist Lincoln in his hunt for these vicious monsters: Henry Sturges, played by British actor Dominic Cooper. "He vows to help human beings in their struggle."


Above: Vampires played by Erin Wasson and Rufus Sewell. "These are not party-all-night vampires," producer Lemley explains. "They work all day to exploit humanity."



While not exactly the same high-flying combat style of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, the clashes in Vampire Hunter do contain a fantastical element. "But it has a groundedness," producer Lemley says. As superheroes go, "Lincoln is probably more Batman than Superman."


Lincoln learned to use his weapon of choice by splitting rails and chopping trees. "His father was a woodsman, so he grew up knowing how to handle an ax," producer Lemley says. But his instrument of destruction is not just any old battle ax. "Like Batman's weapons have special features, his is customized."



Images courtesy of 20th Century Fox and Stephen Vaughan.

New Photos, Info from "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter"

Entertainment Weekly has provided us with several new images and new information on Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, which comes to theaters on June 22nd.

“It’s not a sermon in any way, but it is interesting to look at vampires as the all-encompassing, unspeakable, unknowable evil,” says Benjamin Walker, who stars as axe-wielding Honest Abe. “This evil moves among us, and maybe lives next door. It’s an ideology that we don’t fully understand, but they live by it.”

But Walker explained that, of course, the film is just a bit of fun. “The joke is in the title, and then we fully commit to it,” says Walker.




“It’s told through the structure of Lincoln’s actual life. You not only see these huge fight scenes and great moments of drama, but you get sort of the greatest hits of Lincoln’s life, from the mysterious death of his mother through the Gettysburg address, says Walker. “You get a portrait of this man, as well as a thriller.”

Rufus Sewell and Erin Wasson play vampires in the film.

Walker says Lincoln is ripe for spoof precisely because he is so universally beloved. “His legacy is safe. It’s something we all agree on and we’re all proud of as Americans,” the actor says. “Once you know that, nobody’s going to actually get hurt. We all do idolize him. We do look for qualities he exemplified and try to emulate that in our lives. Nobody gets their feelings hurt because we know who he was. If you throw vampires into the mix, it’s just another way to see someone we already think of as a hero be heroic.”

Plus, Lincoln was known to have a great sense of humor himself. “When he was a lawyer, going on the road, staying up late nights with legislators and businessmen in taverns, he was the life of the party; a very exciting and entertaining man in his own right,” Walker says. “I think he’d love our movie.”

You can learn more information (with some SPOILERS) about the film's story in the original article.

Valentine's Day Cards, Burton-Style

Want to share some Valentine's Day cards with a Tim Burton twist? You can now purchase a set of greeting cards featuring artwork by the man himself.

Here's the information from Steeles Publishing, who is responsible for publishing the book, The Art of Tim Burton (which is now on available for purchase in its fourth edition):

The Art of Tim Burton Valentine's Day Greeting Card Box Set is now available for purchase!

This set includes twelve greeting cards in a keepsake box featuring six images from The Art of Tim Burton.

Our Price: $23.99

Availability: Usually Ships in 2 to 3 Business Days
Product Code: GREETING CARD SET



Available now for a limited time with free shipping within the 48 contiguous United States.

Steelespublishing.com is the only authorized source for The Greeting Card Sets.
The authenticity of Greeting Card Sets offered by any other outlet
such as eBay or amazon.com cannot be guaranteed.
Quantities are very limited - order your card sets today!


For more information on the free card set promotion please see the Standard Edition product page by clicking here or the Deluxe Edition available by clicking here.

Goldman on "Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children"

Screenwriter Jane Goldman recently spoke with Ology.com. In the interview, Goldman talked several of her possible future projects, including an adaptation of the book Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, which might be directed by Tim Burton.

Can you tell me more about these other projects?

What I'm working on at the moment is an adaptation of the book Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children and that's with Fox. It's very exciting, Tim Burton is overseeing the job which is massively exciting. I'm really excited about the source material. It's a quirky story with some scary elements and some funny elements. I'm having a really good time with it right now. And the other one is this sort of science fiction movie which is based on a new comic book that I absolutely fell in love with. Science fiction is another genre that I love so the year is shaping up to be a really good year.

What's your dream cast for Miss Peregrine's?

Gosh, I don't know, a lot of the cast is very young. I always try to not think about casting because you might end up disappointed. You don't want to get too attached to an idea because it's kind of up to the director. I have to say that I've loved the casting on everything I've worked on. I haven't really thought about the cast for Peregrine, but if Mr. Burton decides to sign on in directing his casting choices are always perfect.

Eva Green on "Dark Shadows" Role

Eva Green discussed her role in Dark Shadows to IndieWire's The Playlist.

"I think it's very, very funny, with a dark sense of humor, but really funny. And I play Angelique Bouchard, and she's a cuckoo character. An extreme character, who is madly obsessed with Baranabas Collins [played by Johnny Depp], and it's a very electric relationship. And she wants to own every bit of Barnabas," she said. "It's not a typical villain, and that's what I like about how Tim [Burton] dealt with her. She has a good reason to act like that. It's really a love story."

Witherspoon, Reynolds to Star in Burton-Produced "Big Eyes"

For the first time in many months, we finally have some updates on the Tim Burton-produced live-action feature, Big Eyes. The Hollywood Reporter informs us that the film will star Reese Witherspoon and Ryan Reynolds, playing Margaret and Walter Keane.

Margaret Keane is well-known for her kitschy paintings of bug-eyed children which she created and became a sensation in America during the 1960s. The Keanes' lives were filled with controversy: Though Margaret was the true talent behind the paintings, her husband, Walter, claimed credit for her work, which was sold under his name.



Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski (who wrote the script for Tim Burton's Ed Wood) will write and direct Big Eyes, with Burton set to produce via his Tim Burton Productions. Lynette Howell and Jamie Patricof will also produce through Electric City Entertainment. Principal photography is scheduled to begin with Witherspoon and Reynolds this spring.

"We are ecstatic to have this dream cast for our dream project," Alexander and Karaszewski said in a joint statement. "Walter is a larger-than-life antihero -- charming, funny, dangerous, and a little crazy. Ryan will knock it out of the park. As for Reese, she will be perfect as Margaret -- soulful, decent, transforming from vulnerability to learning to fight for herself."

Video: Christopher Lee on "Dark Shadows"

In his 2011 Christmas message video, legendary actor Christopher Lee discussed his upcoming projects, in film and beyond. After discussing The Hobbit and Martin Scorsese's Hugo, Lee confirmed that he will appear in Dark Shadows. Lee clarified that his role in the vampire film will be brief, but memorable and meaningful to the audience. It's a fitting film for Lee to appear in, considering the acclaimed thespian, who turns 90 this year, is well-known for his performances as Dracula.

Lee begins talking about Dark Shadows at about 9:15:

New Picture of Depp in "Dark Shadows"

CineHeroes provides us with a new still from Dark Shadows, showing Johnny Depp playing Barnabas Collins. Click the image below to see a larger version:

New Photo of Benjamin Walker as "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter"

Yet another image of Benjamin Walker from Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter has surfaced!

Two New Stills from "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter"

Two new stills show Benjamin Walker in action in Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter.

"Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter" International Poster Released

The international poster for Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter has been released, courtesy of cineheroes.net. Click the image below to see a larger version:

New "Frankenweenie" Image

The Los Angeles Times provides a new still from Frankenweenie, and some words from the director of animation, stop-motion extraordinaire Trey Thomas. Thomas spoke of the difficulties and ambitions of working on this stop-motion film.

"You'd think black-and-white would be forgiving because it's just shades of gray. But it isn't. It shows every little flaw," said Thomas, speaking at his East London office about the movie's monochrome aesthetic.

The LA Times wrote, "About 200 puppets were crafted for the film — including 16 Sparkys (eight dead, eight alive), 14 Victors and new oddball creations called E (short for Edgar) and Weird Girl, both of which are voiced by longtime Burton collaborator Catherine O'Hara." For Thomas, his guiding philosophy was honoring Burton's love of classic 1930s monster movies. "What we're trying to create is Universal horror plus," he said.

Interview: Benjamin Walker is "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter"

MTV News provides an interview with Benjamin Walker, the star of Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter:

MTV News: Is it a daunting proposition knowing what's to come? This is a summer tent pole and you're the guy. Do you feel a little bit of that weight?

Benjamin Walker: Having never done it, I really don't even know what to be afraid of. I'm just taking it in stride.

MTV: Was this role, when you heard about it, something that was like, "Oh my god, that's something I'm dying to do?" Or was it something that took a little discussing with your team to say, "Hey, this would be cool for you."

Walker: Well, I had just finished doing a rock musical about Andrew Jackson, so I was already suited for it. What really got me excited was [director] Timur [Bekmambetov]. I liked his work, and as soon as I found out he was directing it, I wanted to be a part of it.

MTV: Can you give me a sense of what the process was like in getting the role? Did you have to go through multiple auditions and screen tests?

Walker: I met him in LA months before I got the job, and then he came and saw the Andrew Jackson show. There was a test that we did together with no prosthetics, and then we had the test Greg Cannom and Will Huff, the makeup artists. After that, the deal was closed, but we're talking about over the span of six or seven months.

MTV: What's the preparation for a role like this? What were the things you needed to get done before you stepped onto set for the first time?

Walker: First off, I had to lose about 30 pounds. I put on a lot of weight for Andrew Jackson, and Lincoln, particularly later in his life, was a very slight man. I learned ax fighting, which was a whole new martial art that they created for the film. Then I started brushing up on my Abe Lincoln history.

MTV: Was the weight loss easy for you to do?

Walker: Who can do that? It's the easiest way to do it, when a studio's willing to help you do it, and then you're training at the same time so you're exercising regularly and heavily. Certainly the easiest way to do it, but certainly not pleasant.

MTV: Tell me about Lincoln's fighting style.

Walker: The stunt guys and the fight choreographer, Mic Rodgers, who is a stunt legend, and a gentleman named Don Lee — all of these guys are martial artists and stuntmen. They created a form of fighting that would be unique to Lincoln at that time, that's never been in a movie before. As I'm learning it, they're creating it. It was really fascinating.

MTV: What is it comparable to?

Walker: It's comparable to a kind of bow staff fighting. If you imagine a shorter bow staff with a blade on the end of it, a kind of continuously spinning, ruthless and simultaneously graceful martial art.

MTV: When I was on set, I noticed the makeup on you was remarkable up close. I would imagine that you have to do this fighting stuff in that getup, obviously. That seems like a twofold challenge for you. Did that get in the way at all?

Walker: It became uncomfortable over time. You start to sweat under it. You're wearing a three-piece wool suit and fighting vampires and you're wearing a mask. It really becomes uncomfortable, but the men who created it, Greg Cannom and Will Huff, are absolute geniuses. If I ever felt frustrated, all I had to do was catch a reflection of this amazing sculpture that they had created on my face. The frustration would just fall away because I knew how great it looked.

MTV: Did your friends or wife visit you on set, and what did they make of your look?

Walker: Mostly everyone was creeped out by it because it's Abraham Lincoln, and I'm talking about where we're going to go have dinner.

MTV: So you didn't ever walk off set in downtown New Orleans as Abraham Lincoln?

Walker: No, because we're trying to keep it and how magnificent it looks as secret as possible. I was kind of sequestered to a tent anytime I was off shooting.

MTV: I'm anxious to see some finished footage in a trailer. Have they shown you much yet?

Walker: I've only seen some ADR material, and it's very, very exciting.

MTV: Did you guys shoot it in 3-D or are you posting it in 3-D?

Walker: If I'm not mistaken, we're posting it in 3-D.

MTV: Was the book itself useful? Had you read the book prior to this opportunity coming up?

Walker: I read the book as soon as I knew I was going to meet on it. It's helpful in terms of understanding the style and the seriousness with which we embrace this mashup, but there are going to be things in the movie that are surprises to people who know the book. But, also, we pay homage to what's great about the book.

MTV: My sense is — correct me if I'm wrong — that it feels like I was on the set of a Lincoln biopic because I didn't see any of the action stuff. It feels like it was all shooting extremely seriously and then you add that layer of crazy action and irreverence in that form. Does it feel like we're in a drama that's infected with action and violence?

Walker: It's more like we looked at Lincoln through the lens of that. What we do is embrace a dramatic story. It's in the title. You get it. Vampires. Now we commit to it, and you get to go on that ride.

MTV: Do you feel a little bit of resentment toward Mr. Daniel Day-Lewis? This guy can't let you be the one Lincoln of the year. You have some competition from the greatest living actor on the planet.

Walker: Luckily, they're very different movies.

MTV: What can you guarantee to me is better about your Lincoln movie than his Lincoln movie?

Walker: Our vampires will be much better than their vampires.

MTV: Although, I would like to see Daniel Day-Lewis fight vampires. You could do a mashup there one day. Are your presidential days behind you?

Walker: I would love to continue through the cannon of American presidents. They're fascinating people. America's story is a story that fascinates me. I'll never turn down a president.

MTV: Let it be known to casting directors everywhere.

Walker: It has to be a weird interpretation of the president, apparently.

MTV: A very specialized career you have going. 'Paradise Lost,' what's going on with that? Is that a stop? Is that a go?

Walker: It sounds like what they're trying to do is so ambitious they need a little bit more time to prep. They're looking for the summer, which is fine by me. It's also the kind of movie that if we're not ready, we don't need to start. They're doing something in a technological aspect that nobody's ever done in a movie. If they want a little extra time, they can have it.

MTV: I assume you're jazzed about that one. You like the script and you like the interpretation? We haven't seen many blockbusters made of poems in the history of cinema, but this will be something unique, I think.

Walker: That story is the story that began all stories. It's one of the greatest stories of all time. It's something I studied in school and I'm excited to be a part of.

MTV: Are you still doing some comedy in New York or elsewhere?

Walker: Oh yeah, Find the Funny is at Joe's Pub usually the first of every month. We're working out some kinks for the New Year, but we're certainly going to be starting out here shortly. It's something I love to do and something I love to be a part of.

MTV: That side of you is something we haven't seen on the big screen yet. Is that opportunity is exciting for you? To bring a little bit of that stage persona to the big screen work?

Walker: I think it would be a lot of fun. There's little greater in life than making someone laugh. If you can do it in the medium of film, it's even more rewards, I imagine.

MTV: Do you know what the next gig is, whether it's on stage or in front of the camera?

Walker: Well, the industry is coming back together after the holidays. There are a lot of possibilities. "Paradise" moving has changed some things. So far, I'm gearing up for the press tour for "Lincoln," which is going to be a huge undertaking.

MTV: Have you talked to friends and family that have gone through this sort of thing yet to know what you're getting into? It's a lot of sitting in hotel rooms and answering the same questions for hours on end, carpets.

Walker: I could probably ask you what it's like. You know better than anybody. You probably have to be much more miserable than I have to be.

MTV: I'm looking forward to seeing how glazed over your eyes are when I see you at your first junket. Will it be your first junket you've done?

Walker: You can reserve the right, because we know each other, to reach across the table and swat me, to bring me back to life if you need to.

MTV: There was talk that you did a workshop for this "American Psycho" musical. Was that something that was fun? Is that something you're hoping might come together in another form?

Walker: I'd love to do it. The music was great. Duncan Sheik did the music. It's a very timely story right now. It's a musical about the deregulation of American finance through the lens of a crazy person. It's a lot of fun. The thing that's great about "American Psycho" as a play or musical is that it's funnier.

MTV: Were you a fan of Mary Harron's film? Obviously, Christian Bale was amazing in that as well.

Walker: That was an amazing movie.

MTV: A little bit of a different take, it sounds like. I guess accentuate the humor a little bit more.

Walker: A lot of the things that happened in the film were inferred through voice-over, with a stage play, it's direct address. You're literally having a conversation with the audience.

MTV: Is there Phil Collins? Is there Genesis in the stage play?

Walker: Oh, yeah. "Feel It Coming In the Air Tonight."

The film will be released in theaters on June 22, 2012.

Video: First Footage from "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter" Set

MTV News provides us with the very first footage from the set of Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter:

Get More: Movie Trailers, Movies Blog

Director Timur Bekmambetov, star Benjamin Walker (who plays "Honest Abe" himself), producer Jim Lemley, actor Anthony Mackie, and production designer Francois Audouy provide insight on the set into the making of the film.

New Photo: Depp and Pfeiffer in "Dark Shadows"

Entertainment Weekly has provided a new photo of Johnny Depp and Michelle Pfeiffer in Dark Shadows:

Burton on 2012 Films, and Beyond

MTV News recently caught up with a very busy Tim Burton. In this interview, the filmmaker discusses his various 2012 projects (Dark Shadows, Frankenweenie, and Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter), as well as what might happen in the next few years...

MTV: Hi, Tim, we wanted to check in with you because it looks like it's going to be a busy 2012.

Tim Burton: Don't remind me. [Laughs.]

MTV: I'm sorry.

Burton: That's OK. I have to face it sooner or later. I didn't really plan it. I probably should have. I wish you could control film schedules a bit better. But it's OK. It's all things that I love, so that's good.

MTV: How are you dividing your time between the various projects?

Burton: With "Frankenweenie," it's a little bit easier to do it, because you only have a couple shots coming through each day. It's like a slow-motion process. When you're dealing with something like "Dark Shadows," that's immediate and intense. And then with "Lincoln," [director] Timur [Bekmambetov] is great. I'm there just to support it. It's a project I really liked and just wanted to see.

MTV: I got a chance to visit the set, and I was impressed. If I didn't know any better, I'd say I was on the set of a historical biopic.

Burton: You were! It is! That's what's great about it. It just seemed like a natural thing for Timur. It being an American history story, it seemed right for it to be directed by a Russian. [Laughs.]

MTV: What stage are you in for "Dark Shadows" right now?

Burton: 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. That's always what's fun about movies. You never know exactly what they are. It makes it both exciting and scary and why you like doing it. I have to keep remembering that.

MTV : With over 1,200 episodes of the original series to draw upon, what was important to you to retain?

Burton: 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. There was a generation of us who would run home from school to watch it. That's probably why we were such bad students. We should have been doing homework; we were watching "Dark Shadows" instead. 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.

MTV: Some of it takes place in the 1700s, but most of it takes place in 1972, is that right?

Burton: Yeah it goes back, but it's mainly in 1972, which to the era of "Dark Shadows" is the modern era. To me, it was a scary time.

MTV: Does the film leave that house much?

Burton: A little bit, but the thing about "Dark Shadows" was it was a very hermetically sealed world. It's mainly the internal family melodrama. You get a little bit of the sense of the world, but it's like "Grey Gardens," where these people are in their own sort of world.

MTV: Do you utilize time travel in the movie?

Burton: Not too much. A tiny bit. For me, that's when the show kind of made me want to do homework. I was like, wait a minute! That came near the end of the trail of the series.

MTV: You decided not to do 3-D this time around?

Burton: No. It's the '70s, man. Only "Frankenstein's Bloody Terror" was in 3-D. That's the only one I remember from that time.

MTV: Is it true that you're considering doing another "Beetlejuice" film?

Burton: Yes. I love that character, and Michael [Keaton] is so great in it. I always think about how great and fun that character was, so I just said to ["Vampire Hunter" writer] Seth [Grahame-Smith], "If you have some idea about it, go for it, and then I'll look at it freshly." In the past, I tried some things, but that was way back when. He seemed really excited about it.

MTV: Has he run any of his ideas by you yet?

Burton: No. I told him to try some stuff, but he hasn't come back to me yet. Michael was so great in it. I'm sure he'd strangely tap right back into it.

MTV: It must be extremely exciting for you to return to "Frankenweenie," considering the original short led to your demise at Disney.

Burton: Maybe it'll cause my second or third demise. [Laughs.] I'm very excited about it. The opportunity to do it in black-and-white and 3-D really fits the story. For me, it's the heart of the story that we've gotten to go back to and expand. It's more of a "House of Frankenstein" kind of situation now, but also it stays with the same thing. It taps into the politics of other children that you remember from school. It's still intimate, though. It's still the basic story with a few more elements.

MTV: It actually shocks me there hasn't been a Broadway musical version of "Nightmare Before Christmas."

Burton: A couple of schools have done it. I think it could lend itself to something like [Broadway]. I'm just happy it's taken on a life of its own. We've resisted any kind of sequelization thing. Some things are just best left on their own.

MTV: Did anyone try to dissuade you from doing "Frankenweenie" in black-and-white?

Burton: I'm very grateful, because I think they understood that that was part of the emotion of it. I was very happy about that, because it's a big part of it. It's a big deal for a studio to go along with something like that. And the 3-D really suits it. With a lot of 3-D, you lose some of the detail, but with stop-motion, you actually feel more of the detail. So all the work that people put into the puppets and the spaces on the set — you actually feel it.

MTV: Is IMAX interesting to you?

Burton: Yeah, definitely! We're doing a test for "Frankenweenie." "Frankenweenie" is such a tactile funky project. It would be interesting to see it in that, so we're playing around with it.

MTV: Is "The Addams Family" the next thing on the stop-motion docket?

Burton: Oh, I don't know. I got so many things to keep up with now ...

MTV: You do seem to have a long list of things with your name attached.

Burton: That's why I don't go on the Internet, Josh. It freaks me out. I've got my immediate things to worry about. It's like when they thought the Earth was flat and you hit the horizon and fell into a black hole.

MTV: So this laundry list of things that are stressing you out ...

Burton: Just check them all off till later. Next year, we'll take a look at them like Santa's list. I'll tell you yes or cross them off the list.

Burton on White House Halloween Controversy

Tim Burton responds to an exaggerated media story about his surprise Halloween 2009 visit to the White House on his official Facebook page:

"Setting the record straight:
Recent reports about the 2009 Halloween event have it all wrong. The White House contacted me about helping decorate a Halloween event being held for children of military personnel. I turned to Disney who graciously donated props from my films Alice in Wonderland and The Nightmare Before Christmas. I asked Johnny Depp and Mia Wasikowska to attend in character from Alice in Wonderland and Deep Roy to appear in his Oompa-Loompa costume [from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory] as a way to surprise the children. It's unfortunate that this event has been twisted and exaggerated into something negative when it was held for children and came from such a positive place.
Sincerely,
Tim"

Burton, Warner Bros. Interested in "Pinocchio" with Robert Downey Jr.?

The Hollywood Reporter states that Warner Bros. and Tim Burton are interested in making a live-action adaptation of Pinocchio, starring Robert Downey Jr. Robert Downey Jr. would play Geppetto, the wood-carver who creates the marionette boy.

Bryan Fuller (creator of TV's Pushing Daisies) has written a treatment for the project, and Dan Jinks (American Beauty, Big Fish) is attached to produce.

However, neither Burton nor Downey Jr. have made deals with Warner Bros. yet, and both men have very busy schedules. Additionally, several other adaptations of Pinocchio are in development from other studios, making stiff competition for Warner Bros.' plans.

New "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter" Image

A new image from Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter has surfaced, courtesy of USA Today. The Burton-produced film will be released in theaters on June 22nd, 2012.

Video: Wahlberg on "Apes," Clubbing with Burton

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In a video interview with MTV, Mark Wahlberg discusses working on the 2001 Tim Burton version of Planet of the Apes. He acknowledges that the film wasn't a critical success, but explains that the Burton himself wasn't in a very comfortable position. Regardless, Wahlberg says it was the most fun he has had on a film set.

Wahlberg also talked about going to a club with his director. "I have no better time on any movie than I had working with Tim," Wahlberg recently told MTV. "I had the most amazing time with Tim. I run to be on the set with him. We were doing reshoots, and he came out with me to Paris. We're in the club. Tim was in the club, man. Tim was in the club. Then he'd be drawing people, and all of his caricatures looked the same. He'd be drawing people in the club."

New "Frankenweenie" Photo

Stitch Kingdom has provided a new high-resolution still from Frankenweenie. Click the image below to see a larger version:

New "Frankenweenie" Set Photos

Shock Till You Drop visited Three Mill Studios in London to see how production is coming on the upcoming Tim Burton stop-motion film, Frankenweenie. Click the photos for high-resolution versions.

"Tim always wanted to make it into a feature and into an animated feature," explains producer Allison Abbate, "We had to open the story up a little bit. Pretty much, the whole first act is like the short. We meet Victor and his beloved dog, Sparky. There's a terrible car accident tragedy and the dog gets killed. Of course Victor, being a clever guy, figures out how to reincarnate him. Where the story diverges is that Victor is now desperate to keep his dog a secret. He doesn't really know if what he's done is a great thing. He doesn't tell his parents and he doesn't tell his school friends... Of course, the other kids at school get wind of it and kind of want in."

Art director Tim Browning also spoke with Shock Till You Drop to discuss the creation of many of the sets in the film, which are located in Victor’s hometown of New Holland, California.

"[Our setting] is a California suburb sometime between 1965 and 1975," says Browning. "There's no real specific date but, from a design point of view, you approach it much the same as any other period drama. You do the research and try to find all the details of the architecture. Of course, on a project like this we have the luxury of making everything and having complete control. In live action, you have to rely very heavily on locations, purchased props and hired props. Here, you make every single thing."

Browning also discussed the lead canine character.

"He's one of the principal characters," explains Browning, "and in real life he would be sort of bull terrier sized. He needs to be manageable... Our adult puppets are about 50 cm high whereas on 'Corpse Bride' they were more like 25 to 30."

The other aspect of the sets that's instantly striking is that they merge color and black and white. Though the film is being shot for the latter, some elements of puppet-making are simply easier to come by in color and others are designed to make use of the contrast.

"Back in the old days, set painting was geared towards black and white photography," continues Browning, "and it became a whole new challenge when color came in. We're re-creating techniques from the '40s and '50s that this film is homaging."

You can learn more about the film at the original link. But watch out for a few SPOILERS.

Frankenweenie will be released in theaters on October 5th, 2012.

"Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter" Teaser Posters

IGN.com has revealed two teaser posters for Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. Click that previous link for high-resolution versions of the posters.

Video: Helena Bonham Carter: "Dark Shadows" Will Be "Impossible to Sell"

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MTV News recently got a few words about Dark Shadows from Helena Bonham Carter. The actress said that the film will be "very original," "uncategorizable," and "impossible to sell, frankly." And that's part of the reason that it's a passion project for her director and partner, Tim Burton.

"This is a thing he raced home to see when he was about age 10, so it's returning to his childhood roots of what he loved watching," Bonham Carter said of the original Dark Shadows television series. "It's actually a really bad, hilariously bad soap opera, and because it's so bad, he felt he had to make a hugely expensive movie."

Bonham Carter also talked about the supporting role that she plays, the character of Dr. Julia Hoffman. "I mean, she's an alcoholic psychiatrist, so I hadn't played that before. And she's got a secret. They all have secrets. It's all about people who have secrets," she teased.

"It's going to be unlike [anything], I think. It's dangerous to say that. But it's very original and it's kind of uncategorizable. It's going to be impossible to sell, frankly, because it's just so ... it's a soap opera, but it's very, very subtle. I don't know. We'll see. It's a ghost story, but then it's an unhappy vampire story, it's a mixture of so many different things and a real ensemble piece. Hopefully it will be funny. I don't know," she said.

Dark Shadows will be released in theaters on May 11th, 2012.

Jane Goldman Scripting ‘Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children’

Jane Goldman, the screenwriter of Stardust, Kick-Ass, and X-Men: First Class, is in talks to write the script for the feature film version of Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children, the Ransom Riggs novel that Chernin Entertainment is producing, reports Deadline.com. Tim Burton is circling the project as a potential director, but it has not been confirmed that he will helm the project yet. The film is being made by 20th Century Fox.

Burton's Thanksgiving Balloon Takes Flight

Tim Burton's "B.Boy" balloon made its world debut at the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade yesterday. Here's a video showing the crew at work:



Photo courtesy of Shavon Leanne McKinstry.

Atwood on Depp's "Dark Shadows" Vampire Look

MTV News spoke with acclaimed costume designer Colleen Atwood recently. The three-time-Oscar winner described working on Dark Shadows with star Johnny Depp.

"Johnny's very open about what things are in the process, but he really lets people present things to him. He never really pushes at all," Atwood said. "Sometimes he doesn't even look in the mirror in his fittings. It's so funny. It's pretty amazing. People would be surprised, because I think they have this image of Johnny, because he's so stylish always, but he really feels his costumes more than looks at them, and the movement and the feeling in them is really important."

"He plays a vampire who wouldn't normally go out in the daytime, but we wanted him to be able to have outings, so I did two or three different hat shapes and we tried them once he got his hair and makeup on," said Atwood. "I also found these amazing hundred-year-old sunglasses, but they were too small ... so I took them and had them copied. And the color of the sunglasses and the color of the hat and his costume coat, which was a really dark green, is one of our favorite combos we've come up with in our work together."

Dark Shadows included, Atwood and Depp have collaborated on eight films together, including five other Tim Burton films (Edward Scissorhands, Ed Wood, Sleepy Hollow, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, and Alice in Wonderland). During all of those years, Atwood says the two have built a successful working relationship, saying, "There's a lot of trust there for both of us, so it's a nice process, because ... if he has an idea, it comes from someplace; it's not just some wanky fashion idea."

Burton in Talks to Direct "Peculiar Children" Adaptation

Tim Burton is in talks to direct a feature-length adaptation of Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children, the Ransom Riggs novel that 20th Century Fox and Chernin Entertainment acquired last spring. The talks are only in their early stages, but Burton would be involved with finding a writer to pen the screenplay, reports Deadline.com. Peter Chernin, Dylan Clark and Jenno Topping will produce.

The story follows a 16-year-old boy named Jacob, who travels to the old Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, the orphanage his grandfather told him tall tales about, and where he believes the dangerous, super-powered residents might still be lurking around.

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween from the Tim Burton Collective News blog!



Video from KJ92508.

No "Beetlejuice 2" Without Burton's Blessing

Entertainment Weekly spoke with David Katzenberg and Seth Grahame-Smith, the heads of KatzSmith productions, to learn more about their various upcoming plans and projects. Included in were two possible projects that may involve Tim Burton -- emphasis on "possible" and "may." The first was a possible sequel to Beetlejuice.

David Katzenberg: We’re not remaking Beetlejuice. People have been very angry about that.

Seth Grahame-Smith: When Warner Bros. came to us about it, we said the only way we’d do it if we got Tim [Burton’s] blessing and involvement, and we got that, and the star of the movie has to be Michael Keaton as Beetlejuice, and it’s a true continuation 26 years later. Not just throwing him in as a cameo going, “Hey, it’s me. I endorse this movie.” We’re not there yet [with Keaton] because we don’t have a film to present to him.


The second film discussed was a possible stop-motion animated feature, Night of the Living. The idea is still only a concept, but the duo are considering pitching it to Tim Burton. The story concerns a community of monsters whose peaceful lives are turned around when they are invaded by humans.

Seth Grahame-Smith: Night of the Living is all of the topes of horror movies, but turned on their head from the monster’s point-of-view.

Again, however, Night of the Living does not yet have Burton attached to it.


Seth Grahame-Smith wrote the screenplays for two future Burton films, Dark Shadows and the Burton-produced Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. David Katzenberg is the son of Jeffrey Katzenberg, founder and head of DreamWorks Animation.


Image Credit: Noel Vasquez/Getty Images

Alice Cooper's "Dark Shadows" Cameo Confirmed

Alice Cooper poses in his "Welcome to My Nightmare" maze at Universal Studios Hollywood's annual Halloween Horror Nights attraction in Los Angeles. (David Sprague / Universal Studios Hollywood)

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Alice Cooper has confirmed that he will have a cameo in the forthcoming Dark Shadows movie.

In an article by the Los Angeles Times, Cooper described his experience on the set and told the writer about his role in the film. “They should take that set and make it a haunted house next year,” Cooper said of the Pinewood Studios constructs that include a sprawling gothic mansion and a harbor city complete with pier and boats floating in an artificial ocean.

Cooper plays himself in the film, which is set in 1972 – Johnny Depp’s character, the recently revived vampire Barnabas Collins, hires the rock star to play a private ball at his seaside home in Maine.

“He’s a guy you have to watch when he’s up on the stage and the songs are just classic,” Depp said last month about Cooper, who, wearing his trademark makeup, plays “No More Mr. Nice Guy” in the film. (His collaboration with Depp went beyond the confine of Pinewood — the actor brought his guitar along to perform with the rock star and his band during a London gig.)

Cooper said he also found in Burton a simpatico soul.

“Rock and horror and comedy work together, that’s something I’ve known a long time and people like Rob Zombie know, and Burton knows that too,” Cooper said. “Sometimes the comedy is disguised a little bit, it’s dark, but it is there. You can’t do horror and rock with a punchline in a way. There’s the absurd stuff and there’s just that delivery of the ’Oh!’ moment that is like a punchline. I just saw Final Destination 5 and I was laughing so hard. I mean, it was Wile E. Coyote, all these elaborate things leading up to this moment of impact... there’s something like that in our shows, too. Hitchcock would do it too. There’s the setup, the misdirect and then the delivery. Tim Burton knows it so well. He’s one of a kind. He’s a kindred spirit.”

Video: Danny Elfman on "Dark Shadows" Score

In the last few weeks, while the film has been shooting in the UK, Danny Elfman has been experimenting with some of the musical elements for his score for the adaptation of Dark Shadows.

MTV News asked the composer about his work so far on the project.

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"It’s still very early, they’re not even done shooting. I just sent them some stuff so they can play with it while they’re editing," Elfman said about his progress on Shadows at the premiere of Real Steel, the score for which he also composed. "I think it’s just going to be fun. You can tell from Johnny Depp’s hairstyle right off the bat, it’s like, ‘Oh wow, that’s different.’ It’s [set in] the ‘70s, it’s going to be fun."

"I think this will be a little wilder than 'Edward Scissorhands,' but I don’t know. I really don’t know what to expect until it’s done."

Elfman also said that he and Burton had discussed the use of a smaller-scale orchestra, perhaps to emulate the music for the original TV series and classic motion pictures involving vampires and other gothic monsters. Elfman did something similar for his iconic music for The Nightmare Before Christmas. But Elfman stated that nothing has been set in stone yet.

"I think we might keep it small. That was Tim’s first thought to make it very small, but having said that maybe we’ll make it big. Things can change between now and then."

FearNet also asked Elfman if the film's score would include the theme from the original television series.

"We had this discussion with Batman," said Elfman, "[about] whether we wanted to incorporate the TV theme. And Tim said, ‘No, don't do that.' And on Planet of the Apes, once again, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory; that was a big one – "Do we incorporate it in?" "No." So I'm just guessing that he's gonna say no again, that he's gonna want to develop his own language and dialogue for this."

"Having said that," Elfman laughed, "who knows? You may just hear a theramin!"

First Look at "Frankenweenie"

Entertainment Weekly provides the very first official look at Frankenweenie, in glorious black and white!







In the article, Tim Burton also spoke fondly of a childhood dog, and how it might have influenced his original short film and its new feature-length update.

“It’s such an unconditional relationship,” Burton recalls. “A lot of kids have that experience – I certainly had that experience with a first pet. You’ll probably never have it again in your life in that way, it’s so pure and memorable.”

“His name was Pepe — we lived in a Spanish neighborhood,” Burton recalls. “Our dog had this thing called distemper, and wasn’t supposed to live more than a couple of years. He lived much longer than that, which kind of fed into this Frankenstein mythology as well.”

What kind of dog was Pepe? “It was a mix, kind of a mutt, with a bit of terrier, and a bit of something else,” Burton says. “I don’t know what it was. It was kind of a mixture.”

Sparky, the main character of the film, may look a bit freakish once he gets his stitches, but the story is more simple and heartfelt than outlandishly macabre. “It just tries to keep that idea of a very, simple pure relationship,” Burton says. What’s more pure than the story of a kid and his first pet?

“Mix that with the Frankenstein myth,” Burton adds with a chuckle, “and it causes problems.” But the big beating heart in the story (apart from the re-animated one inside Frankenweenie’s chest) is the sad fact that we all outlive those four-legged pals from our childhood, and goodbye can be a painful thing. The idea of bringing a lost friend back to life? “It has its good side and repercussions,” Burton says. “Ultimately, we try to go with the slightly more positive aspects of keeping that [boy-and-his-dog] relationship going.”

Thanksgiving Parade to Feature Burton Balloon

Next month, on November 24th, Macy's Thanksgiving Parade in New York City will feature a specially commissioned balloon designed by Tim Burton, writes Dave Itzkoff of The New York Times.

“It’s such a surprise to be asked, and it was great,” Mr. Burton said in a telephone interview from London. “It’s such a surreal thing that you don’t even believe what you’re hearing. Somebody’s trying to play a joke on you or something. It had that kind of feeling.”

Burton even wrote an origin for this character, named B. Boy. B. was created, Frankenstein’s monster-style, from the leftover balloons used in children’s parties at the Great Ormond Street Hospital in London. Forbidden from playing with other children because of his jagged teeth and crazy-quilt stitching, B. retreated to a basement lair, where he obsesses over Albert Lamorisse’s film “The Red Balloon” and dreams that he, too, will be able to fly someday.

“There’s always been something about balloons,” Mr. Burton said, by way of explaining his B. Boy character. “You see them deflated and you see them floating. There’s something quite beautiful and tragic and sad and buoyant and happy, all at the same time.”


Mr. Burton’s sketches of his B. Boy character, as seen from various angles.

“Maybe we’re stepping into the dark side here,” said Amy Kule, the parade’s executive producer, “but Tim’s balloon, although gothic, is really fun in spirit, and nobody should be worried that it’s going to be scary or should be part of a nighttime parade rather than a daytime parade. We’re pretty cognizant about what we put in the air, and this balloon deserves to be up there with all the others.”

Burton didn't think his style was particularly transgressive, either. “I’ve always felt like my stuff was never that weird or subversive, but that’s just me thinking that,” he said. “For me, it’s pretty natural. Maybe for others, it might not be so much.”

But will Burton appear at the parade itself on November 24th?

“I’ll probably be hiding somewhere, in a building,” he said. “That’s why I’m not an actor – I’m more a stay-behind-the-camera kind of a person. My marching-band days are over. I did that way back when, and I was pretty bad at it then, so leave it to the experts.”


You can read a bit more about the making of the balloon at the original article.

Video: Depp on Vampire Inspirations

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During an interview with MTV News to promote The Rum Diary, Johnny Depp talked about his inspirations from classic vampire films that he used to craft his version of the character Barnabas Collins in Dark Shadows.

"The memory that I have of watching the show as a kid, Jonathan Frid and what he did with that character was the main inspiration, for sure," he said of the actor who originated the role of Barnabas. "But also the idea of, over the years, these vampire movies have come out and vampire TV shows and stuff like that, and you go, 'Well, nobody looks like a vampire, man. What happened?'

"I adored Dracula, still do. I adored [everyone] from Bela Lugosi to Christopher Lee. I adore Nosferatu, [played by] Max Schreck. I adore all those wonderful sort-of horror films. And it was an opportunity really, an opportunity to sort of go into what really doesn't exist [onscreen] so much anymore, which is classic monster makeup and a classic monster character," Depp explained. "So that was really the inspiration Tim and I talked about."

Christopher Lee will reportedly appear in Dark Shadows, which will be released May 11, 2012.