Johnny Depp

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

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

A portion of all that pirate treasure that Captain Jack Sparrow and his mates have hauled in over three Pirates of the Caribbean movies can now be yours!

Don’t forget to enter the 451 Press comment contest! It’s easy to do. Just comment on any site at 451 Press sometime in the month of August! That’s all there is to it! You will be automatically entered into our prize drawing to win $300, $200, or $100! Now, that’s easier than pillaging and plundering, isn’t it?

And just think of what you could do with the money! Over on Ebay, there’s tons of Johnny stuff at auction-from autographed pictures and scripts to DVD’s! You can add to your collection, or put it in a fund to spend on tickets to Johnny’s upcoming movies. And with everything he has in the works right now-Sweeney Todd, The Rum Diaries, Shantaram-and the list goes on-you’ll be spending lots on tickets!

So, don’t forget to enter our contest in the next couple of weeks! Get yourself some treasure!

Johnny Depp, Depp, Pirates of the Caribbean, contests, prizes, drawings, Sweeney Todd, The Rum Diaries, Shantaram, 451 Press

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

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

Will Comic-Con attendees be getting a preview of the Tim Burton-Johnny Depp musical “Sweeney Todd?” According to Playbill it was one of the film invited to present at the San Diego event, July 26-29.

However, according to a Dreamworks Studios spokesperson, that is unlikely.

“It’s too early. If a poster had been ready, that would have been the time to reveal it.” Noting the expected release, he added, “It’s still a long way to December.”

The film is scheduled for limited release Dec. 21, 2007, with a wide opening on Jan. 11, 2008. All you lucky Comic-Con attendees, let us know if you see anything!

Johnny Depp, Depp, Tim Burton, Sweeney Todd, Comic-Con, Dreamworks, Playbill

Playbill’s current issue has an article on Johnny’s latest collaboration with Tim Burton, the musical “Sweeney Todd.”
Here’s the official synopsis of the film:

“Johnny Depp and Tim Burton join forces again in a big-screen adaptation of Stephen Sondheim’s award-winning musical thriller ‘Sweeney Todd.’ Depp stars in the title role as 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 barber shop, Sweeney Todd becomes the Demon Barber of Fleet Street who ’shaved the heads of gentlemen who never thereafter were heard from again.’ Joining Depp is Helena Bonham Carter as Mrs. Lovett, Sweeney’s amorous accomplice, who creates diabolical meat pies. The cast also includes Alan Rickman, who portrays the evil Judge Turpin, who sends Sweeney to prison and Timothy Spall as the Judge’s wicked associate Beadle Bamford and Sacha Baron Cohen is a rival barber, the flamboyant Signor Adolfo Pirelli.

Filming is completed, and the film is scheduled for a limited release on December 21, with a wide release on January 11, 2008. Here’s to another great film with Mr. Depp!

Johnny Depp, Sweeney Todd, Tim Burton, Helena Bonham Carter, Alan Rickman, Timothy Spall, Sacha Baron Cohen