There’s a sliding scale of horror, with regards to the films in today’s TV spot roundup. We have Tim Burton’s latest piece of ghoulish comedy with Dark Shadows, a genuinely Gothic fairy tale re-telling with Snow White and the Huntsman – and a pure descent into sci-fi dread and physical horror with Ridley Scott’s Prometheus.
Fresh 60-second television promos have been released for Dark Shadows and Snow White, featuring new footage from the respective titles. To top it off, we also have a third television spot (with maybe a previously-unseen shot sprinkled here and there) for Scott’s first journey into the realm of science fiction in over thirty years.
Dark Shadows
The original Dark Shadows TV show aired during the 1960s and earned a strong cult following for its supernatural-flavored soap operatics and unintentional camp value. Burton, in collaboration with screenwriter Seth Grahame-Smith (Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter), has selected to play up the original property as more of a pure horror-comedy in the film adaptation. Along for the ride is the director’s preferred leading man (Johnny Depp, of course) as Barnabas Collins, an 18th-century playboy-turned-vampire who awakens after two centuries of imprisonment to discover a much-changed world… in the year 1972.
Check out the new extended TV spot for Dark Shadows:
While longtime Dark Shadows fans, by and large, are still pretty peeved about Burton’s more absurdest approach to the franchise, most everyone else seems excited to see the filmmaker’s latest work of supernatural zaniness. As far as most of the crew here at Screen Rant is concerned: we fall in the latter category right now.
Dark Shadows opens in theaters around the U.S. on May 11th, 2012.
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Snow White and the Huntsman
Video game commercial helmer Rupert Sanders is making the jump to feature-length filmmaking with Snow White and the Huntsman, which stars Kristen Stewart (Twilight) and Chris Hemsworth (Thor in The Avengers) as the title characters – along with Charlize Theron (also in Prometheus) as the beauty-obsessed sorceress and monstrous queen who seeks to achieve immortality by murdering her own stepdaughter, Snow White. Based on the footage unveiled to date, these various players have joined together to produce a flick that mixes elements from the original Brothers Grimm story – with those of a Medieval fantasy series like Game of Thrones.
Have a look at the 60-second TV trailer for Snow White and the Huntsman:
Most everything we’ve recently seen and heard about Snow White and the Huntsman has left us enthused. Hopefully, this will prove to be a fairy tale re-imagining that delivers on a visual and thematic level – and doesn’t just offer an undercooked story to go with the eye candy (Red Riding Hood, looking at you).
Snow White and the Huntsman hits theaters in the U.S. on June 1st, 2012.
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Prometheus
Ridley Scott and Lost co-creator/screenwriter Damon Lindelof joined forces to transform a project that began as a direct prequel to Alien, into a more original exercise in sci-fi allegory and terror called Prometheus. As indicated by that title, which references the Greek Titan who suffered greatly for stealing fire (technology) from the gods and giving it to humankind, the final result is an ambitious film that explores the dark side of questions about our origins as a species – and features an admirable cast that includes Noomi Rapace (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo), Michael Fassbender (X-Men: First Class) and Oscar-winner Charlize Theron, among others.
Watch the third TV spot for Prometheus below:
Thanks in part to Fox’s invigorating marketing campaign, Prometheus has become THE most anticipated Summer Movie Season 2012 release for several members of the Screen Rant staff. Suffice it to say, we’re more than ready to take the plunge into Scott’s new symphony of disturbing, other-worldly, madness.
Prometheus opens in 2D, 3D, and IMAX 3D theaters around the U.S. on June 8th, 2012.
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