Johnny Depp

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 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

SF Gate.com reports that Keira Knightley has named actor James McAvoy, with whom she stars in Atonement, as the best kisser she’s ever had. What?! This from a woman who’s been lucky enough to kiss Johnny Depp! What gives, Keira?

Of course, it was reported that Johnny said that he found kissing Keira uncomfortable, due to their age difference and the fact that he had met her when she was only 17. I guess that could contribute to it. And I guess kissing is a somewhat subjective experience and different for all of us, but still…

Johnny Depp, Depp, Keira Knightley, James McAvoy, Atonement

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

Johnny and Orlando Bloom are both in the running for best male performance in the first ever British National Movie Awards, reports Metro.co.uk. Both are up for their roles in Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End.

Also up for best male performance are Daniel Radcliffe and Rupert Grint for their respective roles as Harry Potter and Ron Weasley in Harry Potter and The Order of The Phoenix. And rounding out the nominees is Daniel Craig for his first turn as James Bond in Casino Royale.

The British National Movie Awards are chosen by public vote. Those nominees should make for some pretty difficult choices! I’d vote for Johnny in the end, but I have to say that I’m also a big Harry Potter, so it would be difficult for me!

Johnny Depp, Depp, Orlando Bloom, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End, Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Daniel Craig, Casino Royale, James Bond, British National Movie Awards

I posted recently regarding Johnny portraying vampire Barnabas Collins in an upcoming movie version of the TV gothic soap “Dark Shadows.” Now, I find out that the original “Dark Shadows” is, at last, being released on DVD! According to the Bay Area Reporter, the first set of DVD’s will be released later this month. I can’t wait! I’ve long been a fan of the original series, so this is something I’m really looking forward to seeing.

Here’s a copy of the article from Bay Area Reporter:

Depp shadows

Variety reported last week that Johnny Depp is set to take the lead in a film adaptation of 1960s TV show Dark Shadows, as vampire paterfamilias Barnabas Collins.

Sez the trade pub: “Depp has said before in interviews that he was obsessed with the show as a kid, and wanted to be Barnabas Collins as a child, so it looks like he’s got there at last. He’s developing the film with Warner Bros. producer Graham King and his own production company, but it’s a little way down his To Do list. He’s just wrapped Sweeney Todd and still has Shantaram in development, as well as a project about murdered spy Alexander Litvenenko.”

While we wait for Depp’s new take, we’re cheered to hear the first stirrings of the Gothic soap opera TV series will be released on DVD later this month. Dark Shadows: The Beginning (MPI Home Video; $59.98) presents the series’ early episodes before Barnabas’ arrival. Among the disc’s highlights is the complete unedited premiere episode, with its original 1966 commercials intact.

The creation of producer Dan Curtis, Dark Shadows tells the tale of the Collins family, a seemingly white-lace patriarchal dynasty that runs a New England town out of their family estate. Into this world enters young nanny Victoria (Alexandra Moltke), who soon learns there’s more to the family than meets the eye.

The series later went into overdrive when mysterious relative Barnabas (Jonathan Frid) moved into the dilapidated estate next door. Soon the household was beset with werewolves, witches and ghosts. The cast included Joan Bennett, Louis Edmonds, and Barnard Hughes. DVD bonuses are a new Dark Shadows introduction with Moltke (Victoria Winters); a Dark Shadows history with Kathryn Leigh Scott (Maggie Evans); the original network promo; and episodes 1-35.

The photo above is of actor Jonathan Frid, the original Barnabas Collins. Can’t you just see Johnny in this role?!

Johnny Depp, Depp, Dark Shadows, Jonathan Frid, Variety, Graham King, Sweeney Todd, Shantaram, Dan Curtis, Alexandra Moltke, Kathryn Lee Scott, Barnabas Collins, Barnard Hughes

The latest Tim Burton-Helena Bonham Carter collaboration is personal-their second child! Helena’s publicist confirmed to E Online that the couple are expecting their second child together. The two have been a couple since they met on the set of Planet of the Apes in 2001. Their son, Billy Raymond, will be four in October.

We all know of Tim’s many collaborations with Johnny Depp-including Edward Scissorhands, Corpse Bride, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, etc. Helena has been included in some of those collaborations-the aforementioned Corpse Bride and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, as well as the upcoming Sweeney Todd. Helena’s latest appearance sans Tim Burton is as Deatheater Bellatrix Lestrange in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.

The child of the talented twosome arrives later this year, and they are very happy. We wish them and their baby the good health and the best of luck!

Johnny Depp, Depp, Tim Burton, Helena Bonham Carter, Sweeney Todd, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride, Edward Scissorhands, Harry Potter, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Planet of the Apes

Have you seen the movie “Stardust” yet? If not, go shell out your money at the very first opportunity. It’s well worth it! Especially Robert DeNiro. DeNiro plays the swashbuckling Captain Shakespeare, a flying pirate captain, who enjoys dancing and dressing in women’s clothes! The scene in Captain Shakespeare’s cabin where DeNiro does the can-can dance is hilarious! Shades of Jack Sparrow!

Most critics seem to love DeNiro’s performance, including IESB.net:

Robert DeNiro, my first major issue with the casting when it was announced, is wacky, wonderful, and Oscar nomination-worthy. I can assure you that if he doesn’t float your sense of humor boat, you should really look to see if your funny bone has hit an iceberg recently.

Everyone in this movie was seemingly tailor-made for their parts, with Michelle Pfeiffer and Claire Danes also excellent in their roles.

Johnny Depp, Depp, Captain Jack Sparrow, Stardust, Robert DeNiro, Michelle Pfeiffer, Claire Danes