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

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.

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.

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.

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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

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?

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

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.

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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?

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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.

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.

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.

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

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