Johnny Depp

The trailer for Sweeney Todd will be available for viewing this weekend, at the movie, Heartbreak Kid. Josh Tyler over at Cinema Blend has gotten a sneak preview. Here’s his take on the trailer:

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The first trailer for Tim Burton and Johnny Depp’s next movie Sweeney Todd is due to hit theaters for the first time this weekend attached to prints of The Heartbreak Kid. No word on when it will be online, but I saw it tonight at a Heartbreak Kid press screening. It’s good. Weird, but good.

When you’re talking Sweeney Todd you expect weird, after all this is a movie about a barber who murders his customers and has them baked into pies while singing about it. Musicals are by definition weird, and Sweeney Todd is weirder than most. And the trailer is good, really good. Or it is until Johnny Depp gets singing. Then it gets even weirder than you’d expect. It’s not that his voice is bad, it’s just that watching Johnny Depp belting out a tune in Tim Burtin’s typically dark, dank, world simply feels incredibly wrong.

The trailer, which runs a bit more than two minutes, seems to be trying to de-emphasize the musical aspect of the film. That may be why Depp’s singing scene seems odd, since so little of the trailer is devoted to advertising the film as a musical. Or it could be that getting used to Depp doing the singing thing is simply going to take some getting used to. Either way, you’re in for a treat this weekend when the first trailer for Sweeney Todd debuts.
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I’ll be seeing it myself later this weekend. Can’t wait!

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Here’s a list of the Johnny Depp movies on TV in the coming week, according to IMDb. Times and channels are included. Times listed are Eastern time.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Monday, Oct. 1 8:00AM HBO

The Man Who Cried Monday, Oct. 1 9:30AM AMC

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Monday, Oct. 1 4:30PM HBO

Once Upon A Time In Mexico Wed., Oct. 3 1:00AM TBS

It’s always amazing watching Johnny as Willy Wonka. I find this particular performance to be one of the most unusual of his career (so far!). Young Freddie Hightower’s performance as Charlie is also one not to miss. And don’t forget Helena Bonham Carter!

“The Man Who Cried” was Johnny’s second film with Christina Ricci. Those two make an interesting pair. Other notable names here include Cate Blanchett, Harry Dean Stanton, and John Turturro (who also appeared with Johnny in “Secret Window”).

Johnny’s turn as corrupt CIA Agent Sands in “Once Upon A Time In Mexico” is lots of fun! I love the totally deadpan delivery of such lines as “Are you a Mexi-CAN or a Mexi-CAN’T?” I’m sure other actors could have pulled this off, but none of them with Johnny’s style!

Grab some popcorn and your remote and have fun this week!

For info on some of your other favorite actors, see:
Tom Cruise Watch, and
Brad Pitt Watch

Johnny Depp, Depp, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Helena Bonham Carter, The Man Who Cried, Christina Ricci, One Upon A Time In Mexico, Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt

Reuter’s news service recently interviewed Tim Burton, following his receiving the lifetime Golden Lion Achievement Award at the Venice Film Festival. Here’s a portion of that interview:

Q: Your next movie is based on the story of Sweeney Todd. What is it about the story that makes it so popular, with a series of revivals and adaptations recently hitting stages around the world?

A: “I don’t know if it was that popular in terms of just mass culture as a musical … It’s probably my favourite musical just because of all the different elements — the horror, the humour, the drama and the beauty of the music all juxtaposed in there. I just felt like on stage the one thing that they don’t have the opportunities to see (is) the actors’ faces and eyes, so this is a case where we almost felt like we were making a silent movie with music.”

Q: Although many of your films feature music, this is your first proper musical. Why do it?

“This is the first pure (musical) and this musical is even different from most in the sense that there’s a lot of music in it. This one is almost musical throughout. That was an extra challenge that I got excited about, really.”

Q: Johnny Depp has been quoted as likening his singing voice to “the mating call of a rutting stag”. I don’t know if he said that, but having directed him in a musical, do you agree?

A: “That sounds like him! No I don’t. He’s great. When I asked him to do it I had no idea if he could sing or not. I know he’s in a band and all that, but then when he said yes, I knew that he wouldn’t say yes unless he himself knew he could do it. That’s the great thing about him, he’s always up for a challenge and I think he’ll surprise people. I think he sounds amazing.

Q: You regularly work with Depp. Would you have considered making this movie with anyone else in the lead?

A: “I was involved with Sweeney Todd about 10 years ago. It just never happened. He (Depp) would have been too young for it at that point. Things have a weird way of working themselves out. On stage they always portray them (Todd and partner in crime Mrs. Lovett) as old, like in their 50s or whatever. But it just felt more passionate somehow to have them younger than that in the movie, sort of in their 40s. In some ways it’s kind of a luck thing where yeah, I might have made it with somebody else but I’m glad I didn’t, because I think he’s amazing in it.”

Q: Helena Bonham Carter also stars in this film. Is it ever a problem directing your partner?

A: “Yes! The good thing is that she was really right for the role and (that) sort of supersedes anything, and we’re still together and that’s a positive side. A few rocky moments. But when somebody’s right for a role that kind of takes the edge off a bit.”

Q: Why is this Golden Lion award important to you?

A: “I’ve been to this festival a few times, and each time I’ve come here I’ve just had this very special feeling about it. You grow up in Hollywood and that whole scenario and what you feel here is that there is just passion about movies. So that’s what makes it special to me — it’s not about business, it’s not about finance, it’s about just the love of movies. And so to get this at this point in my life I just think is an inspiration and I can always remember it and hopefully use that as an inspiration to keep going.”

Johnny Depp, Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Tim Burton, Sweeney Todd, Venice Film Festival

Here’s a script review of Sweeney Todd from Michael Vaal at IESB.net.

The Shortest Script “Review” I’ve Ever Done

The script, for all intents and purposes, is just an edited down version of the original playbook by Hugh Wheeler based on a play by Christopher Bond, which in turn was inspired by the legend of Sweeney Todd and the pulp horror fictions of the late 19th century. Screenwriter John Logan kept the best songs and the critical action and it seems that they haven’t had to cut much to make it work – no doubt thanks to the fact that the material was from a play and was nearly perfectly staged.

It’s still set in London and all the characters are here and represented faithfully, so there isn’t much to dwell on regarding the script except to say, “thank god it wasn’t turned into a roaring 20’s gay Chicago gangster musical.” You never know with Hollywood these days…

So, What Might Go Wrong?

While I’m a huge fan of Tim Burton, the director, and of Johnny Depp (Sweeney Todd) and Helena Bonham Carter (Mrs. Lovett), there are a few lingering questions.

Can Tim Burton direct real drama? We’ve seen him deftly handle comedic roles and all manner of oddness very well over the years. But this isn’t THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS (which he co-directed with an animation legend) or EDWARD SCISSORHANDS (the closest anyone has come to crying for a Burton directed character at the end). SWEENEY TODD is serious work. Can he make us FEEL the tragedy and pathos of Sweeney? If that doesn’t come through, the ending of the movie won’t move people the way the stage musical has for almost three decades.

Can Johnny Depp sing, let alone deep enough that the walls of theater resonate in a way you’ve never heard before? Because that’s what Sweeney calls for. To be blunt, there are very few professional singers who can pull off the role of Sweeney vocally, let alone act to a level that transforms the role from the big theater stage to the small theater screen. This is clearly his toughest and most challenging role to date. And I do not envy him here at all.

Helena Bonham Carter is less of a worry due to the nature and range of the songs Mrs. Lovett sings. Whether she can take the crown away from Angela Lansbury isn’t as important as whether she can get the audience laughing at the right moments. Mrs. Lovett is devious and clueless, naïvely romantic and heartless as it suits her. Fortunately, this is material that the director is well versed in.

I’m sure the sets, production values, etc. etc. will be top drawer. This is Dreamworks and Warner Brothers after all. I guess my only concern here is that Burton has a habit of making EVERYTHING he does look the same as those cartoony sketches he originally drew for THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS when he was an animator at Disney. I’d like to see SWEENEY TODD pick up from where Burton went with the live action bookends of CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY or a more realistic, grittier version of his already rather gritty work on SLEEPY HOLLOW. To be honest, if I see another BEETLEJUICE “Burton tree” in one of his movies, I think I’m gonna puke.

So everything rests on the director and the leads. They have amazing material in hand, which has remained remarkably and pleasantly true to the original masterpiece. Soon we will know if Tim Burton and Johnny Depp can bring to this role not only the wonderful music and dark comedy they are both known for, but also the tragic pathos of one of the greatest anti-heroes in modern fiction.

Of course, those of us who are Johnny Depp fans have no doubt that this material is in the best hands possible! If Johnny can’t pull off this role, then there’s no one out there who can!

Johnny Depp, Depp, Sweeney Todd, Tim Burton, Helena Bonham Carter

According to Playbill, Nonesuch Records will release the soundtrack for the Sweeney Todd film. Nonesuch also produced the cast recording for the recent revival of Sweeney Todd. The film is slated to be released December 21. There is no release date yet for the soundtrack.

It has also been announced that all cast members will do their own singing from Stephen Sondheim’s music and lyrics. A great chance to hear Johnny singing! This’ll definitely go on my Christmas list!

Johnny Depp, Depp, Sweeney Todd, Nonesuch Records, Playbill, Sweeney Todd cast

Here’s two great videos of Johnny at the Venice Film Festival. Clips of his arrival, and his presentation of Tim Burton’s award, as well as clips from Tim’s and Johnny’s movies. Johnny always looks fabulous! Enjoy!

Johnny Depp, Depp, Tim Burton, Venice Film Festival, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Corpse Bride, Edward Scissorhands

Here are a few of the Johnny Depp-related books slated to be released, and currently available for pre-order on Amazon. It’s a great line-up. Every one of them should be fantastic!

Johnny Depp enjoys a fan base quite unlike any other modern-day star — grown women sigh over his sexiness, children adore him as Willy Wonka, hipsters relate to his subversive streak. The Johnny Depp Photo Album documents its subject’s unstoppable rise via a wealth of film stills and candid shots away from the set. It chronicles every step of Depp’s career: cult films like Benny and Joon; current releases like the Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and Sweeney Todd; his drunken, bad-boy period; and his affairs with Winona Ryder and Kate Moss. It also reveals Depp’s life away from the madness of Hollywood — there are rare glimpses of his life partner, Vanessa Paradis, and their two children, whom he aggressively shields from the media spotlight. Through its irresistible array of color and black and white images, this strikingly designed tribute reveals the family man who just happens to be the greatest screen star on the planet.

This one doesn’t have a book description yet, but it’s a companion book to the movie. It’s a 160-page hardcover from Titan Books, scheduled for release on Dec. 4, 2007. The forward is by Tim Burton, and there are extensive photos and interviews with cast and crew.

Originally published in 1997, this book is scheduled for reissue on November 1, 2007. It’s a 151-page paperback from Anova books.

Johnny Depp, Depp, Sweeney Todd, Sweeney Todd: The Real Story of the Demon Barber of Fleet Street, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, Johnny Depp Photo Album, Tim Burton, Vanessa Paradis

Both Johnny Depp and his Pirates co-star Keira Knightley will be attending the Venice Film Festival, which began yesterday, along with other A-list celebs like George Clooney, Brad Pitt, and Jude Law. Keira’s film, Atonement, was chosen to open this year’s festival.

Great news! The episode of Inside The Actor’s Studio starring Johnny Depp is set to be released on November 20th! Originally, the episode was scheduled to be released in May of this year. Then, release was moved to September, and then it was taken off the schedule completely. Hopefully, all merry-go-round of scheduling is all resolved, and we’ll be watching Johnny on November 20th. There are some great moments with Johnny in this episode, so be sure to get it!

Also, according to the website TV Shows On DVD, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End is scheduled for an early December release. I haven’t heard an exact date on it yet, but I’ll let you know as soon as I do.

Add the release of Sweeney Todd to all this, and it looks like it’ll be a great holiday season for Johnny Depp fans!

Johnny Depp, Depp, Inside The Actor’s Studio, Pirate of the Caribbean, Sweeney Todd

Warner Brothers has asked Tim Burton to cut parts of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. Studio execs have become squeamish over some of the extremely bloody early footage from the Burton/Johnny Depp collaboration. The film currently merits an R-rating, and the studio wants it re-cut, so that it can be released with a PG-13 rating.

In the film/play, Todd’s victims are sat in a mechanical chair, where they are subject to a slice across their throats, before a trap door in the floor opens and they slide down a chute into the lair of Todd’s mistress, Mrs Lovett (played by Helena Bonham Carter), who uses the dead bodies to make her meat pies. One scene that is said to have particularly bothered the studio bosses involved a “ten-year-old boy cutting up body parts, which were then thrown into a meat grinder and turned into mince.”

This is nothing short of absurd! I realize that the idea is to make the film accessible to as many people as possible, but come on! You’ve made a movie about a man who takes absolute delight in murdering people by slitting their throats and having his girlfriend make them into meat pies-and you want it to be less bloody?!

Leave Tim Burton alone. The man has proven time and again that he knows what he’s doing.

Johnny Depp, Depp, Tim Burton, Sweeney Todd, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

Teens proved that they can, occasionally, pick out a good actor! At Sunday’s Teen Choice Awards, Johnny Depp was selected Choice Movie Actor in an Action Adventure Movie for Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End, over co-star Orlando Bloom. Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End also won as Choice Action Adventure Movie.

Also winning Teen Choice Awards were Keira Knightley as Choice Actress in an Action Adventure Movie, and Bill Nighey (Davy Jones) as Choice Movie Villain. For a complete list of winners, go to Fox News.

Congrats to Johnny and his co-stars!

Johnny Depp, Depp, Teen Choice Awards, Keira Knightley, Bill Nighey, Pirates of the Caribbean

Here’s the latest Sweeney Todd photo, courtesy of Movies Online. The photo features Johnny Depp as Sweeney Todd, and Alan Rickman, as Judge Turpin. This will be a fascinating movie!

If you’re interested in background information on the real Sweeney Todd, you can find it at Court TV’s Crime Library They have fascinating information on Sweeney Todd from his birth, through his crimes and up to his trial and death. There’s also info on the Broadway show, and how the legend of Sweeney Todd came about.

Johnny Depp, Depp, Sweeney Todd, Alan Rickman, Court TV, Johnny Depp movies

Here’s a preview photo of Johnny as Sweeney Todd and Helena Bonham Carter as Mrs. Lovett, thanks to Broadway World. Look and enjoy!

Johnny Depp, Depp, Sweeney Todd, Helena Bonham Carter

Firefox, along with other news outlets is sharing the image of the Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street movie poster. From this picture, Johnny seems to simply embody the role, as he does every other role he takes on. Also starring in Sweeney Todd are Helena Bonham Carter, Alan Rickman, Sacha Baron Cohen, Timothy Spall, and Anthony Stewart Head, and is directed by the ever-gifted Tim Burton. The poster was unveiled at Comic-Con.

Johnny Depp, Depp, Sweeney Todd, Helena Bonham Carter, Alan Rickman, Sacha Baron Cohen, Timothy Spall, Anthony Stewart Head, Comic-Con, Tim Burton

EW.com reports that Johnny will soon begin work on The Rum Diaries. The Rum Diaries is Hunter S. Thompson’s autobiographical book, written in 1959 when he was 22 years old, but not published until 1998.

Johnny will play Paul Kemp, a freelance newspaper journalist in Puerto Rico in 1959. Kemp is surrounded by a group of self-destructive lost souls. He is also producing the film.

Work on Rum Diaries is expected to begin as soon as Johnny wraps Shantaram, about an Australian drug addict who resumes a life of crime after escaping to India. Johnny has a lot of projects in the works. Looks like we’ll be seeing lots of him in the near future!

Johnny Depp, Depp, Rum Diaries, Hunter S. Thompson, Shantaram