New Sweeney Pic! (With Lovett)- Page 6

[Boq101]

Posted: 8/11/07 at 3:10am

The movie is still like five months away, I doubt we'll get a trailer soon.

[Craww]

Posted: 8/11/07 at 5:07am

Looks almost exactly as I imagined it. Burton is completely stilted and masturbatory in his conception.

Of course, the positive to it being so predictable, is that it does look predictably stunning. I'll probably adore it.

[best12bars]

Posted: 8/11/07 at 8:56am

It does sound like DreamWorks/Paramount has changed its mind on their release strategy. Initially, it was to be a "Dreamgirls"-type release---small at first, then opening the flood gates---but since Hairspray has done so well opening wide right up front, they probably aren't as worried about a musical building momentum and word of mouth. Besides, it's a Johnny Depp/Tim Burton movie. Go for it!

Smack 'em in the head with it!

[Weez]

Posted: 8/11/07 at 9:56am

Also the people saying she looks too much like Bellatrix. Well, yeah, duh. And Sweeney looks too much like Edward Scissorhands. I don't see why you should fault them for looking similar to...themselves.

Thank you for saying what I wanted to say. People can be very silly sometimes. XD

As for people pointing out it looks like a Tim Burton film, uh... duh? I'm not sure that Burton is *quite* a Hitchcock, but I definitely don't think it's a stretch to say he is most certainly an auteur (look it up :P). It is neither surprising nor terrible for an auteur to have a similar visual style for most of their movies! :P

[Weez]

Posted: 8/11/07 at 9:57am

(Also I really like the picture and remain optimistic for this cinematic venture.)

[D2]

Posted: 8/11/07 at 11:03am

"Sweeney is also MUCH stronger material than Phantom.
It's got to be hard to really f*ck up Sondheim/Wheeler's work."

A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC?

Personally, I think Tim Burton is the perfect choice to create this film and I'm looking forward to seeing it. Of course it will be different from the stage production, and it should be. It's Burton's vision of the piece, not our venerated memories translated to the screen. One small detail I've noticed from the picture is that it appears he's moved the time period from the original's 1840's to much later - Lovett's dress has a slight bustle in the back, a style that didn't appear until the early 1870's.

[best12bars]

Posted: 8/11/07 at 11:15am

D2---I guess it doesn't matter that they've moved the time period yet again. The original "legend" was set in the mid-1700s, so they were already off by a hundred years.

The point was that Sondheim, Prince and Wheeler wanted to set the story during the Industrial Revolution. That was the reason for their change. All those belching smokestacks and factories whirring away. The "machine age" was a perfect backdrop for a serial killer grinding "humanity" into meat pies. The dehumanization of the population. So, if they moved it up to Dickensian or even "Ripper" times, so be it. The social and class struggle of mankind was at the heart of all of Dickens' work, and is truthfully at the heart of Sondheim's Sweeney. I think it will work fine here to set the tone for this story.

[D2]

Posted: 8/11/07 at 11:27am

B12B - I wasn't complaining about the change in time period, I was just making an observation about Lovett's costume.

[best12bars]

Posted: 8/11/07 at 12:01pm

I didn't take it as a "complaint" either, and it was a good observation, D2. I was just speculating as to the reason for the change.

[ByTheSea920]

Posted: 8/11/07 at 6:32pm

Oh my god, I'm SO excited!!! I personally love how Ms.Lovett looks. It looks like how I've always pictured her. I'm kind of glad that Burton decided to change Lovett up a bit from the traditional Lansbury interpretation. And I love her outfit!!

[pab]

Posted: 8/11/07 at 8:10pm

"The movie is still like five months away, I doubt we'll get a trailer soon."

I've already seen a trailer for "Get Smart" which opens June 20, 2008 so anything is possible.

[best12bars]

Posted: 8/11/07 at 8:23pm

I just don't see how the Lansbury version of Lovett would work on film, no matter who was playing it or who was directing it. As much as I dearly "love it," it's way too presentational for a film. She's giving a "British Music Hall" stylized performance, brilliant as it is. Great for a theatre, but not so great cinematically. Many of Lansbury's lines and songs were delivered either at or directly to the live audience. On film, how could that possibly work?

[Tkt2Ride]

Posted: 8/11/07 at 9:10pm

My only hope it that Mrs. Lovett stays the dismal, wretch that she was portrayed as by Lansbury. It just enhanced her desperation to win over Sweeney, her cunning and manipulating to snag him for herself. Remember she hides the fact that she knows what happened to Sweeney's wife but fails to tell him that because of her own longing to have him as her own.

I can handle time change and some costume changes, it is a different production. I just hope it doesn't lose that quality or in Mrs. Lovett's case, that disingenuous quality of her character.

I will definitely enjoy seeing Carter bring depth to Mrs. Lovett. She is very qualified and can get across that type of insincerity I have come to appreciate, if not honor in real people I have come across in life. Mystery is one thing but she was out right conniving, selfish and a bad cook to boot!

Though the length she was willing to go for this Man, well, it does make an interesting, if not happy story to watch. It is how life is still for some people. That too, makes this tale more theatrical and appealing. This is a story version I can't wait to see told on screen. It will also bring more attention to the stage, so that will be hopefully another plus for this film.
Updated On: 8/12/07 at 09:10 PM

[Not Barker, Todd.]

Posted: 8/11/07 at 11:32pm

*Loves it, and hopes its good*

[SayitSomehow]

Posted: 8/12/07 at 12:20am

I still don't see how this is going to work for contemporary movie audiences.

Hairspray easy, Dreamgirls of course, and Chicago sure... but Sweeney? I'm not sure such a stylistic and twisted musical is going to make any sense to the mainstream.

[D2]

Posted: 8/12/07 at 9:11am

It never has, so why worry about that now and just be happy it's being made at all!

[SayitSomehow]

Posted: 8/12/07 at 12:31pm

Oh I'm ecstatic it's being made!

I just feel bad for Timmy, Johnny, and the gang. It's going to be a tough sell.

[mateo]

Posted: 8/17/07 at 4:23am

Entertainment Weekly's Fall Movie Preview is on sale today.

From a small photo I saw of the cover Johnny Depp's name is listed- perhaps they will have a new Sweeney pic/article in it.

If someone could scan it- that would be great.

Thanks!

Updated On: 8/17/07 at 04:23 AM

[rosscoe(au)]

Posted: 8/17/07 at 5:45am

From EW.


Fall Movies PreviewMain Photos Release Calendar Video Articles & Previews
Jessica Alba on showing us the funny
First Look: Wes Anderson's 'The Darjeeling Limited'
Laura Linney talks 'The Savages' and more
Jerry Seinfeld can finally 'Bee' himself
Emile Hirsch on 'Into the Wild' and 'Speed Racer'
Tim Burton on his 3-D 'Nightmare'
Buy the EW Fall Movie Preview Issue
Movie Preview
Sweeney Todd

JOHNNY DEPP AND HELENA BONHAM CARTER
Leah Gallo

A bloody musical about a homicidal barber and his human-pie-making partner doesn't exactly sound like standard Christmas viewing, but that doesn't bother director Tim Burton (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory). 'Red is a color at Christmas,' he jokes. Actually, the director thinks that his adaptation of Stephen Sondheim's classic musical might make for a better Valentine's Day option. 'For me, it sort of sums up relationships,' says the director. 'Although people might be horrified by that.'

The movie's unrequited-love story also appealed to Helena Bonham Carter, who, fortunately for Burton, is his real-life paramour. 'There's still such a humanity to it, and that's what Tim always brings,' says the actress, who plays the bizarro baker. Still, Bonham Carter admits that working with her significant other 'has its stresses.' Luckily, her costar is more or less unflappable. '[Johnny Depp] was really diplomatic. Whenever Tim and I started arguing, he would just look away.' Burton considers this film one of his most challenging productions yet, which means a lot coming from the director of Beetlejuice, Batman, and Edward Scissorhands. 'To do an R-rated musical with 70 percent singing was kinda like, 'Well, I haven't done that one before.' It's exciting to keep surprising yourself and see what happens.'

Depp, like most of the cast (including Sacha Baron Cohen as a rival barber in his first post-Borat role), signed on having little or no professional singing experience. 'He was game for it,' Burton says of Depp. 'When I first heard him, I was amazed.'

The vocals were more taxing on Bonham Carter, who felt like she was training for 'a sport.' She also logged hours in the kitchen in an effort to learn the fine art of baking. 'I had to do accelerated lessons at pie making,' she says. 'Not only that, but then you had to do it to syncopated Sondheim rhythm and sing at the same time. I had to become very coordinated.' More enjoyable was her transformation into ghostly Mrs. Lovett. 'The look is fantastic,' she says. 'I'd wear this makeup anyway. But it might start a whole craze.' Let's just hope her recipes don't catch on.

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 8/17/07 at 5:58am

To do an R-rated musical with 70 percent singing...
How many of us feel reassured by this quote?
Okay, so it will not be the 90% singing from the Broadway piece which was expected, but it also won't be 20% singing like most Hollywood directors and producers would have approached the piece.
From Carter's comments it seems like "By the Sea" may have made their way into the film, or perhaps I'm reading too much into it.

[Tkt2Ride]

Posted: 8/17/07 at 8:07am

Thank you for posting that article for us. So it has been rated R, as I thought it should be. I think you are right about "By the Sea" being in the Movie. Funny she had to learn how to sing and make a pie! No problem for me.

I am just nervously waiting to hear some of the singing. I loved his comment about "red" being a Christmas color. Very good comeback! It should have some humorous moments, it needs it.

Since now it is rated, I hope to see a trailer very soon.

[best12bars]

Posted: 8/17/07 at 9:45am

"More enjoyable was her transformation into ghostly Mrs. Lovett. 'The look is fantastic,' she says. 'I'd wear this makeup anyway. But it might start a whole craze.'"

So that means the semi-"normal" looking Mrs. Lovett we've seen in this first pic is going to change drastically into something else! More Angela Lansbury or Baby Jane Hudson makeup perhaps?

Can't wait!

...And I believe her talk about "baking" while "singing to syncopated rhythms" is referring to The Worst Pies In London, not By The Sea.

Lovett doesn't bake anything during By The Sea. At least not in the stage show. But she's making pies frantically while singing "Worst Pies in London."

Updated On: 8/17/07 at 09:45 AM

[MovieDan82]

Posted: 8/17/07 at 10:44am

*** FORM FIELD DATA***
Name: Debbie
Phone:
Email Address: *******@yahoo.com
Theatre: McKinleyville CA
Subject of Email: Trailer
Nature of your comment: Question
Message: Have you gotten yet and/or when will any of the theatres in Humboldt county be showing the trailer for the upcoming "Sweeney Todd" movie?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Debbie,

Paramount is telling us the end of this month or the beginning of September. If it's an attached trailer, they're not saying which film it will be on.

Kim Neufeld
Coming Attractions Theatres, Inc.
541-488-1021 x105
[e-mail]

[artscallion]

Posted: 8/17/07 at 10:47am

"More enjoyable was her transformation into ghostly Mrs. Lovett. 'The look is fantastic,' she says. 'I'd wear this makeup anyway. But it might start a whole craze.'"

I took that to mean HBC's transformation from semi-"normal" looking actress into the pasty skinned Mrs. Lovett character we see in the picture. But you could just as easily be right. In fact I like your interpretation better! I can't wait to find out!



"To do an R-rated musical with 70 percent singing..."

Ray, I hadn't realized I had been holding my breath as I read the article until I read that line and started breathing again. I'm very excited and optimistic!

[best12bars]

Posted: 8/17/07 at 10:56am

I like the idea of a "transformation into ghostly Mrs. Lovett."

It gives her somewhere to go on the Crazy Meter, after she begins grinding bodies into meat pies. If she starts out as the madwoman and ends up as the madwoman, it's not as interesting a journey for the character.

Of course, we know she's deranged underneath the whole time... but I like the idea of it physically manifesting itself in a "transformation" to nutty, rather than from the first frame. Plus it makes more sense to imagine that she wouldn't have been carted of to Bedlam ages ago, if she appears to be somewhat "normal" when we first see her.