We told you in June that when Tim Burton’s plan to make offbeat biopic Ripley’s Believe It Or Not was sent back into studio limbo due to money worries that he immediately switched gears and dived into the idea of the musical Sweeney Todd. And that Johnny Depp naturally agreed to play the demon barber.
Sweeney Todd has hung around Hollywood for years, with Warner Bros having grabbed the rights more than 10 years ago and attaching Burton way back then. But when the deals couldn’t be worked out, Burton backed off and Warner Bros ditched the idea. DreamWorks snapped it up and hired Gladiator scribe John Logan to bash out a new draft, with Sam Mendes eventually agreeing to direct. But when Mendes put Jarhead first, Todd fell back into limbo. Now events have come full circle, and Tim Burton’s back, with Logan still on board as the writer.
Now, with Warner Bros agreeing to share the financing and distribution with DreamWorks, the path has been cleared for Burton and Depp to get to work. The current plan is to start shooting at Pinewood on 5 February, with the studios apparently eager to have the film in cinemas by the end of the year.
Looks like old London Town will be running red with blood next year. We’ll buy the pies.
