"Dark Shadows" reunites Johnny Depp and Tim Burton
(CBS News) Their movies have grossed more than $2 billion by tapping in to a kind of charming weirdness moviegoers have embraced. From "Edward Scissorhands," to "Ed Wood," to "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory," they have a mutual love of misfits and monsters.
"Dark Shadows": Should you seek your teeth into it?
Actor Johnny Depp and Director Tim Burton
The latest collaboration between actor Johnny Depp and director Tim Burton is a remake of the low-budget, cult soap opera, "Dark Shadows," with Depp playing the 200-year-old vampire, Barnabas Collins.
This time, the "bizarre factor" is boosted by having the vampire, Collins, unleashed in the psychedelic 1970's -- a time of "Superfly," disco balls, macrame, and lava lamps. Depp said he used music to help inspire his character.
"For something like this," Depp said. "It was so important to keep you in that era, to keep you in that period. Whether I was listening to The Carpenters "On Top of the World," or a song by Bread, or Alice Cooper, it keeps you grounded in that world."
"It was weird at the time," said Burton. "The music, I remember thinking, was a strange mix of music. The fashion, obviously -- it was strange then and it's strange now."
Also strange is the shorthand that the director and star share on the set -- a shorthand that the cast and crew say no one else understands. With eight films under their belts, they joke that they're going for the Guinness Book of World Records.
"It's such an honor when you get the call from Tim," Depp said. "I still feel the same all the way back to "Edward Scissorhands" -- which was 20-some years ago. I still feel jazzed-up, great you know."
Perhaps the strangest thing about the long-lasting collaboration between actor and director is that Depp doesn't like to watch his own work.
"Yeah. It's a curse sometimes," Depp said. "I don't get to see this great work by Tim because I'm in it... I just find it uncomfortable and I sort of prefer just walking away with the experience."
"Dark Shadows" opens on May 11, 2012.
To see Bill Whitaker's full interview, click on the video above.
