Sweeney Todd Comes to the Big Screen

Just in time for the holidays, another gruesome tale from the twisted mind of Tim Burton. This is the story of the demon barber of Fleet Street "who shaved the heads of gentlemen who never thereafter were heard from again." And who do you think stars in the title role? None other than Johnny Depp. Shock-horror! Yes, Jack Sparrow makes his transition from pirate to barber. Quite a stretch. Is Johnny Depp Tim Burton's far more attractive alterego? Does Tim Burton think he cannot make a hit movie without Johnny Depp? Apparently he does since he's cast Depp in a musical. Tim, Johnny Depp, although a fabulous actor and not hard on the eyes, is not a singer. Neither is Helena Bonham Carter who plays Mrs. Lovett, the barber's love interest and cohort in crime. Also starring are "the three tenors" Alan Rickman, Timothy Spall and Sacha Baron Cohen.

This screen adaptation of the Broadway horror musical "Sweeney Todd" with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim is the story of barber Benjamin Barker who returns to London after being unjustly imprisoned and vows revenge not only for his imprisonment but the ill treatment of his wife and daughter. He opens a barbershop above Miss Lovett's Meat Pie Shop and proceeds with her assistance to rid himself of all those who have done him and his family wrong by slitting their throats in his barber chair and sending them down a chute to Miss Lovett who bakes them into her pies. Miss Lovett had the reputation of baking and selling the "worst pies in London" making the addition of the man-meat hard to detect.

As bizarre as it sounds, the casting I mean, not the story, I think it has all the makings of a hit. It's slated to open in a limited capacity on December 21st and then to be widely distributed sometime in January. Sure the story's a little dark to be considered a holiday offering, but to be honest it sounds deliciously intriguing.