Stars Step Out For Dark Shadows Premiere

As we reported, the official premiere for Dark Shadows took place yesterday at Hollywood's Grauman's Chinese Theater. In attendance were stars Johnny Depp (Barnabas Collins), Michelle Pfeiffer (Elizabeth Collins Stoddard), Eva Green (Angelique Bouchard), Chloe Grace Moretz (Carolyn Stoddard), Jonny Lee Miller (Roger Collins), Jackie Earle Haley (Willie Loomis), Bella Heathcote (Victoria Winters) and director Tim Burton. The guests walked down a black carpet and met fans before the screening.

Other attendees included Aerosmith's Steven Tyler, Alice Cooper, Peter Fonda, along with original Dark Shadows actors Lara Parker (Angelique), David Selby (Quentin Collins) and Kathryn Leigh Scott (Maggie Evans). Reuters have posted video of the event, which can be seen below, along with our round-up of today's other Dark Shadows headlines.

• Variety reports that Dark Shadows has been forced to share its Imax screen allocation in the wake of The Avengers' blockbusting $207 million opening weekend; Dark Shadows was originally set to take 200 Imax screens from The Avengers this week, but after talks between the films' distributors, Disney and Warner Bros. have agreed that both releases will share 275 screens. The industry paper says that pundits predict "a decent debut for Shadows – high $30 million to low $40 millions."
• Kathryn Leigh Scott and Lara Parker were guests on yesterday's edition of Good Day L.A., discussing their time on the original Dark Shadows along with the new movie. To watch video of the segment, click here.
• Meanwhile, Johnny Depp has spoken about the wardrobe for Barnabas in the movie, along with the character's distinctive wolf's head cane, which featured on the original series. "It's slightly altered but pretty much the same design," he tells CraveOnline. "It's not a silver-tipped cane because my hand would've burst into flames, which would have lit my sleeves on fire. So we couldn’t go there." Speaking to the Chicago Sun-Times, Johnny explains more about the influence of original Barnabas Jonathan Frid on his performance: "I loved that when he played Barnabas, there was a rigidity to him. He had that pole up the back. He had that elegance. It was always there." He also reveals that he made contact with Jonathan before meeting on the set of Dark Shadows: "He had written me a letter a few years before and signed a photograph to me, passing the baton. I thought it was very sweet."  
• Australian website If has spoken to young Gully McGrath, who talks about his character David Collins: "He's a very misunderstood little boy. He really likes Barnabas because Barnabas doesn't judge him. They become friends."
• NJ.com has tracked down 1970s Dark Shadows comic strip artist Ken Bald, who's still going strong at the age of 91. "I was always interested in the occult," he says. "I really enjoyed drawing the strip. It was a little more exciting than squeaky-clean Dr. Kildare."
• And finally, Danny Elfman's Dark Shadows movie soundtrack album is released today, and is available on CD and download by clicking here.