Hollywood Insider Very Confident in Depp's Sweeney Todd- Page 2

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 3/1/07 at 1:39pm

Eric Stoltz was weeks into filming BACK TO THE FUTURE when he was 'let go' and replaced with Michael J. Fox.

Madeline Kahn was cast as Gooch in the film-adaption of the musical MAME, but was 'let go' and replaced with the show's original Gooch, Jane Connell.

[jpbran]

Posted: 3/1/07 at 2:04pm

Capnhook-

Any word on the Moviemusicals.net site coming back? With Sweeney, Hairspray, Mamma Mia, the Oscars, etc, we miss your well-compiled site!

Good luck with the evantual lauch-- I know it must be time-consuming to get a site going.

[withoutlovewithoutU]

Posted: 3/1/07 at 2:22pm

When I read this I kinda ignored the "Statistics" about winning and oscar. What stood out to me was that the composer of the piece thinks that he is right for the role voice wise.
So, right now I am not worried about Depps preformance in this movie.

[worrell4077]

Posted: 3/1/07 at 3:35pm

I'm not that worried about Depp's performance cause he's one of the truly great actors who really gets into character. I think he'll be fantastic as Sweeney, both acting and singing wise.

I have no doubt he'll be nominated for a Golden globe and an Oscar.

[ljay889]

Posted: 3/1/07 at 3:38pm

I have no doubt he'll be nominated for a Golden globe and an Oscar.


- People also said that about a lot of the actors in the RENT movie. And we all know how that turned out.

I think it's WAY to early predict nominations when we haven't seen anything from the film.

I do hope the film is great.

[Roninjoey]

Posted: 3/1/07 at 3:47pm

I think people'll probably be sick of movie musical hype after having to hear about Dreamgirls so much. The whole thing'll have to be damn good to avoid the inevitable backlash.

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 3/1/07 at 3:54pm

No one EVER mentioned anyone in RENT possibly being mentioned for a Golden Globe or even an Oscar.

From the onset of the film's release, the film was D.O.A. on every level. People said their bit regarding the film and closed the book on it quite quickly. When awards season started, no one ever mentioned RENT -- THE PRODUCERS at least garnered a couple of Golden Globe nominations, but won ziltcho. RENT was never expected nor received any nominations for anything.

[ljay889]

Posted: 3/1/07 at 3:58pm

No one EVER mentioned anyone in RENT possibly being mentioned for a Golden Globe or even an Oscar.

- Um. You just joined this board in 06. You were obviously not a member of this board back then. A lot of people were making uncalled for Oscar predictions for RENT. There were plenty of moans and groans on this board when Oscar nominations were announced, and RENT didn't get anything.

DO a search.
Updated On: 3/1/07 at 03:58 PM

[Fosse76]

Posted: 3/1/07 at 4:07pm

The film JUST started principal photography on Monday (or was it Tuesday)...there is absolutely NO WAY there is enough footage to say whether or not Depp is good or bad!

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 3/1/07 at 4:10pm

Ljay, I do remember the whole issue with RENT and the Oscars. However, there are plenty of more reasons to believe that Johnny Depp is more likely to get an Oscar nod than say, Adam Pascal.
BrodyFosse, I don't know what was the "insider" view on RENT and award seasons, but there was an article on EW about performances that had some award buzz and Rosario Dawson made the list for the Best Supporting Actress category. This was of course before the film came out and it was an unadulterated turkey but the movie did have some early buzz. I remember the "For Your Consideration" posters from RENT, it seems a bit laughable now.
I don't get why everyone is so into bashing this film. Of course the casting choices are questionable at best. Still, we're getting Sondheim's SWEENEY TODD on the screen, the movie is being supported by a major studio and helmed by a director/actor team that does good work together most of the time. I understand why people worry about the outcome but there's no need to bash it over and over again. If someone says that Depp seems to be doing a great job, why is it so hard to just be glad that we might potentially get a great Sweeney?

[Plum]

Posted: 3/1/07 at 4:13pm

I don't care how talented you are; "getting into character" won't make you into a baritone, let alone one who can sing Sweeney. (And Depp is hopelessly overrated anyway.) This column means absolutely nothing, and this project still makes me want to curl up in a ball in the corner every time I hear about it. Anyone want to guess the odds that Burton will give Sweeney daddy issues?

[keen on kean]

Posted: 3/1/07 at 4:20pm

Beware inflated expectations, especially starting so prematurely. Kinda reminds me of the 2008 Presidential election!

[Rentaholic2]

Posted: 3/1/07 at 4:20pm

I just hope they don't OVER campaign for this movie the way I think they did for Dreamgirls. Hopefully, The Departed will be a lesson to all of Hollywood that, if anything, campaigning too much for Oscars can cause backlash. Production companies could save millions and probably be MORE likely to garner the awards they hope for (assuming the material speaks for itself, of course).

[CapnHook]

Posted: 3/1/07 at 4:53pm

1) Yes, there was a lot of Oscar buzz for RENT and it all didn't just come from BroadwayWorld.com. Lots of Hollywood pundits were expecting Adapted Screenplay, Sound, and possibly acting nods.....VERY early on. As the film came closer to release, that all went away.

2) It's never too early to say "this person has a shot at a nomination" but to already narrow the list down to five is idiotic. LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE was an expected surprise this year that ended up becoming an Oscar-winning film. We never know. Over a year ago everyone said "Bill Condon + Dreamgirls (+Foxx and Murphy) = Oscar" and look how that turned out. Right now, we can say "Tim Burton + Johnny Depp + Sondheim musical = Oscar" and we won't know until the nominations are announced.

It all depends upon the stars aligning. As I said earlier, it doesn't matter if Depp is brilliant. It matters how the film is received and what competition there is this year.

3) Plum, must he be baritone? Perhaps Sondheim has rewritten it to fit his voice?

4) Brody - both RENT and PRODUCERS were expected to earn Oscar nods early on. I already mentioned RENT, but PRODUCERS was expected to possibly nab Best Picture, Adapted Screenplay, acting (especially Kidman for Supporting, which turned into Thurman), Best Song, Best Costumes, Best Sound, etc. As I said, as the year progressed, it all dwindled away as people saw what those films really were.

[Plum]

Posted: 3/1/07 at 5:19pm

Plum, must he be baritone? Perhaps Sondheim has rewritten it to fit his voice?

Baritone is a color, not just a range. (That's why I'm not really an alto, even though I sing that part in choir. I'm just a soprano who can't hit really high notes.) Anyway, the point is that Sweeney's songs are meant to be sung by someone with a dark color to their voice. That's one reason why I didn't find Cerveris entirely satisfactory in the revival- his voice was too light. Depp will probably be even worse.

[best12bars]

Posted: 3/1/07 at 5:30pm

If it starts Oscar buzz this early, it's doomed.

Doomed, I say! It will be built up and torn down again just as sure as any "idol" worshipped by the overexcited, overemotional hordes.

Why can't people just hope it's a good movie, instead of the Second Coming?

[SporkGoddess]

Posted: 3/1/07 at 6:22pm

Plum: I was worried about Depp's fach too, but actually if you listen to him singing at the end of PotC, he has a quite deep and low voice. So I'm feeling a bit better about that.

Anyway, my friend realized Burton's plan: he wants to make sure Sweeney won't flop by luring in Harry Potter (Rickman) and PotC fangirls (Depp.)

I'm so scared of the Snape fangirls finding Turpin hot. That will be so wrong. ;_;

[GoSmileLaughCryClap]

Posted: 3/1/07 at 6:42pm

The year that American Beauty came out, there was an article in the NYT that was basically a review in the guise of an op-ed piece. It gushed about the movie and said that it was the best picture of the year, months before it came out or had critics screenings. There was a lot of talk at the time that it was a buzz piece and inappropriate for the Times to run it. It went on to win the award.

Buzz can't be too early. Dreamgirls rode a lot of buzz to a lot of box-office before it got snubbed for best picture. I still believe that the Dreamgirls omission had less to do with buzz backlash than it did with voters thinking it was good but not great. It got lots and lots of good reviews, but didn't seem to be anyone's favorite of the year.

[Plum]

Posted: 3/1/07 at 6:55pm

Depp is just the beginning of my worries about the film. Even assuming everyone is vocally perfect, Burton doesn't seem quite right for this material the way he was right for Roald Dahl. And Burton isn't adaptable- he does his Tim Burton thing no matter what he's filming. *shrug* What's done is done. I'm just not buying into one ounce of this movie's hype until I see clips.

[GoSmileLaughCryClap]

Posted: 3/1/07 at 9:42pm

I really don't understand the misgivings about Burton. Whatever his limitations, he is an expert visualist. With all the smaller revisionsit Sweeny Todd's, it may be easy to forget that the amazing physical production was one of the hallmarks of the original.

And if people are worried about his directing a musical, just look at Nightmare Before Christmas. Although it's stop action animation, his direction of the musical sequences is just fantastic. There is a propulsion and finesse throughout that movie's musical segments that are more accomplished than anything in Dreamgirls or Chicago.

Trust his imagination and talent. And also trust his love of the material, not to mention the support of Sondheim.

[wonderfulwizard11]

Posted: 3/1/07 at 11:09pm

Uh, Burton didn't direct Nightmare. He produced it.

I think Burton could do wonders with this fil if he makes it truly scary and not quirky goth. I don't think the film will work (or sell) if it doesn't play as a horror movie.

[jewishboy]

Posted: 3/1/07 at 11:19pm

Just to interject something totally random- if only Nicole Kidman had been cast as Ula, life would be so much better.
I think this thread is going nowhere.

[GoSmileLaughCryClap]

Posted: 3/1/07 at 11:28pm

Oh, and Tim Burton's fingerprints aren't all over it? OK, he DID direct Corpse Bride, Which possesses an alarming directorial and visual similarity to Nightmare. I stand corrected. And I wish Burton had directed James and the Giant Peach. It would have had a real center.

[wonderfulwizard11]

Posted: 3/1/07 at 11:30pm

Well I haven't seen Corpse, so I'll take your word for it.