Tim Burton and Johnny Depp have well and truly resumed their bromance. Here we have the first trailer for their second outing this year, the goofy vampire comedy Dark Shadows. Played much more for laughs than previous efforts, and with a sensational cast, the duo may well have a comic hit on their hands. But you be the judge.

Dark Shadows is based on the cult 60’s TV series of the same name, which Depp adored and wanted to bring to the big screen. Who better to ask for help in this regard than his old pal Tim? This time around our hero, enslaved vampire Barnabas Collins (Depp), returns from being buried undead in the year 1972. Queue several well-known but overused 70s tunes. Poor Barnabas finds his family, and family business, in ruin. Just as he looks to restore his family to their former glory , the evil witch (Eva Green) who destroyed Barnabas’ life way back when shows up to resume their love/hate relationship. Let the chaos begin.

Dark Shadows all-star cast includes Michelle Pfeiffer (Stardust), Chloe Grace Moretz (Hugo), Helena Bonham Carter (almost every Tim Burton film), Jackie Earle Haley (Watchmen), Jonny Lee Miller (Trainspotting) and Bella Heathcote (In Time).

Enjoy!

This trailer made me chuckle on more than one occasion, although many of the jokes are a little too obvious for my liking. Eva Green looks sensational as the witch and I’m betting her and Depp will provide a majority of the film’s standout moments.

Dark Shadows will definitely be an acquired taste but it does show promise. And any film that allows me to continue my childhood crush on the gorgeous Michelle Pfeiffer will get my vote. I just hope we haven’t seen all the best bits.

Too goofy for your taste? Or just the sort of thing Burton and Depp should be bringing to the big screen?

In the year 1752, Joshua and Naomi Collins, with young son Barnabas, set sail from Liverpool, England to start a new life in America. But even an ocean was not enough to escape the mysterious curse that has plagued their family. Two decades pass and Barnabas has the world at his feet–or at least the town of Collinsport, Maine. The master of Collinwood Manor, Barnabas is rich, powerful and an inveterate playboy…until he makes the grave mistake of breaking the heart of Angelique Bouchard. A witch, in every sense of the word, Angelique dooms him to a fate worse than death: turning him into a vampire, and then burying him alive. Two centuries later, Barnabas is inadvertently freed from his tomb and emerges into the very changed world of 1972. He returns to Collinwood Manor to find that his once-grand estate has fallen into ruin. The dysfunctional remnants of the Collins family have fared little better, each harboring their own dark secrets.

Directed by Tim Burton, the film stars Johnny Depp, Eva Green, Michelle Pfeiffer, Chloe Moretz, Helena Bonham Carter, Jackie Earle Haley, Jonny Lee Miller and Bella Heathcote.

Dark Shadows will loom large on screens from May 10.