Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

[MacGuffin]

Verdict is in: Rickman to judge 'Todd'
Source: Hollywood Reporter

Alan Rickman has signed on for Tim Burton's ensemble musical "Sweeney Todd," a DreamWorks Studios and Warner Bros. Pictures co-production.

Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter and Sacha Baron Cohen already have boarded the project, based on the macabre Stephen Sondheim Broadway musical. Rickman, no stranger to the stage, has been nominated for two Tonys and is a U.K. theater veteran. He will play Judge Turpin in the film, scheduled to begin production next month in London.

The film centers on Benjamin Barker (Depp), a man unjustly imprisoned by a lecherous judge (Rickman). Barker returns as barber Sweeney Todd and exacts revenge. John Logan penned the big-screen adaptation.

Walter Parkes, Laurie MacDonald, Richard D. Zanuck and Logan are producing.

Paramount Pictures will distribute for DreamWorks domestically, and Warners will distribute internationally.

Rickman, whose credits include "Perfume: The Story of a Murderer" and the "Harry Potter" films, recently wrapped "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix."

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Sweeney Todd Starts Singing
Burton's musical begins filming.

Principal photography has begun at England's Pinewood Studios on Sweeney Todd, starring Johnny Depp in the Tim Burton directed screen adaptation of Stephen Sondheim's award-winning musical thriller. The DreamWorks Pictures and Warner Bros. co-production marks the sixth collaboration between Depp and Burton.

Sweeney Todd is produced by Richard D. Zanuck, Walter Parkes, Laurie MacDonald, and John Logan from a screenplay by Logan. The original Broadway production had Sondheim's music and lyrics and a book by Hugh Wheeler based on a play by Christopher Bond. It won eight Tony Awards including Best Musical.

Depp stars as Sweeney Todd, a man unjustly sent to prison, who vows revenge not only for that cruel punishment but for the devastating consequences of what happened to his wife and daughter. When he returns to reopen his barbershop, he becomes the Demon Barber of Fleet Street who "shaved the heads of gentleman who never thereafter were heard from again."

Helena Bonham Carter co-stars as Mrs. Lovett, who creates her diabolical meat pies while becoming Sweeney's amorous accomplice. Alan Rickman is the evil Judge Turpin who sent him unfairly to prison, thereby sowing the seeds of Sweeney's vengeance. Timothy Spall plays the Judge's wicked associate Beadle Bamford. Sacha Baron Cohen is a rival barber, the flamboyant Signor Adolfo Pirelli, and Christopher Lee takes on the role of the gentleman ghost.

Rounding out the cast are Jamie Campbell Bowen as the young sailor Anthony, Jayne Wisener as Johanna, Laura Michelle Kelly as the beggar woman, and newcomer Ed Sanders plays Toby. All the stars will do their own singing from Stephen Sondheim's music and lyrics.

"I've always wanted to do a musical and Sweeney Todd is my favorite," said Burton. "Stephen's blend of humor, horror and emotion is something that has always connected with me."

"Sometimes a story or stage production has to wait a long time until the right people come together to turn it into a motion picture," Sondheim said in a statement. "That's what has happened with Sweeney Todd and I'm excited as well as confident that it will be a first-rate and startling movie."

The crew includes director of photography Dariusz Wolski (the Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy), production designer Dante Ferrati (The Aviator), costume designer Colleen Atwood (Memoirs of a Geisha), hair and make up designer Peter Owen (The Lord of the Rings), and Burton's veteran editor Chris Lebenzon.

Sweeney Todd will be distributed domestically by Paramount for a late 2007 release and distributed internationally by Warner Bros.

[MacGuffin]

[bonanzataz]

haha, somebody's been reading perez...

[for petes sake]

I've read the script for this.  I do not think it will make a good film.

[Pubrick]

I've read the script for this.  I do not think it will make a good film.

does that include songs and music and all that? cos most musicals have pretty shitty scripts sans music.

[bonanzataz]

I've read the script for this.  I do not think it will make a good film.

does that include songs and music and all that? cos most musicals have pretty shitty scripts sans music.

ahem...

i beg to differ.

[Ravi]

Its Vince Froio.

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Christopher Lee Cut From Sweeney Todd
Source: Playbill

Playbill reports that Christopher Lee and a number of other characters have been cut from director Tim Burton's upcoming Sweeney Todd adaptation, starring Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter.

DreamWorks has confirmed reports that the ghost characters — including Lee's "Gentleman Ghost," as a previous release titled his role — have been cut from the film.

The new "Gentleman Ghost" character raised many inquisitive eyebrows when Tim Burton's film cast was announced, since the stage musical does not employ such a character.

Lee told London's Telegraph: "It would have been worse if I had done the scenes, but I never got to film them. It's a shame as the lyrics were wonderful, but these things happen."

Sweeney Todd opens in limited theaters on December 21 and expands on January 11.

[MacGuffin]

[Kal]

awesome

[Bethie]

hot

[Pubrick]

Edward Scissorhands' Series of Unfortunate Events

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Sweeney Todd
Source: Entertainment Weekly

A bloody musical about a homicidal barber and his human-pie-making partner doesn't exactly sound like standard Christmas viewing, but that doesn't bother director Tim Burton (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory). ''Red is a color at Christmas,'' he jokes. Actually, the director thinks that his adaptation of Stephen Sondheim's classic musical might make for a better Valentine's Day option. ''For me, it sort of sums up relationships,'' says the director. ''Although people might be horrified by that.''

The movie's unrequited-love story also appealed to Helena Bonham Carter, who, fortunately for Burton, is his real-life paramour. ''There's still such a humanity to it, and that's what Tim always brings,'' says the actress, who plays the bizarro baker. Still, Bonham Carter admits that working with her significant other ''has its stresses.'' Luckily, her costar is more or less unflappable. ''[Johnny Depp] was really diplomatic. Whenever Tim and I started arguing, he would just look away.'' Burton considers this film one of his most challenging productions yet, which means a lot coming from the director of Beetlejuice, Batman, and Edward Scissorhands. ''To do an R-rated musical with 70 percent singing was kinda like, 'Well, I haven't done that one before.' It's exciting to keep surprising yourself and see what happens.''

Depp, like most of the cast (including Sacha Baron Cohen as a rival barber in his first post-Borat role), signed on having little or no professional singing experience. ''He was game for it,'' Burton says of Depp. ''When I first heard him, I was amazed.''

The vocals were more taxing on Bonham Carter, who felt like she was training for ''a sport.'' She also logged hours in the kitchen in an effort to learn the fine art of baking. ''I had to do accelerated lessons at pie making,'' she says. ''Not only that, but then you had to do it to syncopated Sondheim rhythm and sing at the same time. I had to become very coordinated.'' More enjoyable was her transformation into ghostly Mrs. Lovett. ''The look is fantastic,'' she says. ''I'd wear this makeup anyway. But it might start a whole craze.'' Let's just hope her recipes don't catch on.