"Pirates 4" Rumors Confirmed False

Rumors have been circulating on the Internet regarding the fourth film in the Pirates of the Caribbean series recently, stating that Tim Burton would be directing Johnny Depp would be paid an immensely large sum, and that Sacha Baron Cohen (best known as "Borat," but who also played Pirelli in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street) would play Captain Jack Sparrow's brother.

But in case you didn't respond to your gut or head, writer Terry Rossio has confirmed that this is all false.

Rossio posted the following message on a forum:

For the record, none of the recent Pirates 4 rumors have any truth, including the so-called record 50 million dollar payday for Depp.

Some pretty funny stuff, though. Sacha Cohen? Tim Burton? Studios are way too protective of their franchises for that sort of thing.

Rossio was also the screenwriter of the previous three Pirates movies.

Entertainment Weekly Covers "Sweeney Todd"

Entertainment Weekly has a huge cover story on the upcoming motion picture from Tim Burton, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. The article, written by Steve Daly, calls says that the film is, "dark, desaturated, and visually stunning — and yields some revelations: First, Johnny Depp can actually sing, and second,the movie's got more spurting blood than a season's worth of E.R. Like the [staged musical], Sweeney Todd spins a gruesome tale of vengeance in 19th-century London."

Actor Johnny Depp remarks on bringing Todd and its psychotic, blood-thirsty anti-hero to the big screen. He reports the difficulty of ''taking a character like that and attempting to make people feel for him, at the same time that he's slashing people up. Not easy.'' Nevertheless, Depp remained enthusiastic about the challenge. "How many chances do you get at a musical about a serial killer?''

Helena Bonham Carter, Depp's co-star, who plays Mrs. Lovett in the film, says that the grotesque subplot of the movie "is so sick... I hope we get away with it.'' But director Tim Burton realized the importance of the highly stylized blood and gore effects. The article states that Burton "felt Sweeney should be deliberately grotesque — a Mario Bava gorefest with ballads." ''It just goes with the story,'' Burton says. ''I'd seen different Sweeney Todd productions on stage, and when they skimped on the blood, the production lost something. Everything is so internal with Sweeney that [the blood] is like his emotional release. It's more about catharsis than it is a literal thing.''

Photo by Leah Gallo

On the issue of the leading actors' singing capabilities, Stephen Sondheim felt confidence in their abilities. "'I figured he'd have a light baritone,'' says the composer, now 77. ''You can hear it in his speaking voice. I love him as an actor, and always have. Put those things together, I didn't hesitate for one second.'' Depp astonished by the master composer's words. ''It was a real shock,'' the actor says. ''He said to me early on that the singing was secondary to hitting the notes emotionally.'' Depp continued: ''I didn't believe him.'' He laughs. ''I think he was probably just saying that to make me feel better about what I was about to attempt.'' But Sondheim felt certainty in Depp's ambitious role. ''There are very few people who can act and sing at the same time,'' he says. ''He's one.''

Helena Bonham Carter also spoke of her work in the movie musical. ''I think I had to be righter than right to prove I was right to play Mrs. Lovett. But it had been in my blood. I wanted to be her when I was 13, when the show came out. I went around with a Mrs. Lovett hairdo.'' Unlike Depp, Bonham Carter studied for months with a renowned vocal coach, Ian Adam. ''He was famous for making actors sing who couldn't previously,'' she says. Sadly, Mr. Adam passed away the week filming wrapped.

Bonham Carter is aware of some people's doubts on bringing Mrs. Lovett to the screen effectively and faithfully to the original show. ''I'm sure people will think, Aah, it's because I've slept with Tim. But I didn't sleep with Sondheim. And he ultimately chose me.'' The composer says he watched a dozen or so audition tapes and insists that Bonham Carter's performance was the best. ''Even in a recording studio, wearing a schmatte, she is as beautiful and sexy as they come,'' he says. ''She knew what she was doing, more than the others.''

Helena Bonham Carter as Mrs. Lovett, Sweeney's crazed cohort, and Sacha Baron Cohen, as Sweeney's rival, Signor Pirelli. Carter: Peter Mountain; Cohen: Leah Gallo.

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street will be released in U.S. theaters on December 21st, 2007.

More can be read in the article.

Q&A with Johnny Depp, on "Sweeney Todd"

Entertainment Weekly has conducted a question and answer session with Johnny Depp, star of Tim Burton's upcoming Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, on the making of the film. In the interview, Depp says his take on the murderous barber ''makes Sid Vicious look like the innocent paper boy.'' Depp says the wild streak of white hair his character was the result of "this hideous trauma, from being sent away, locked away. That streak of white hair became the shock of that rage." The actor also described the character's eyes as "needed to have experienced too much, you know. That's where the darkness came around them. These heavy rings around his eyes of purple and brown, this kind of awful fatigue and rage. It's like he's never slept."

Photo by Leah Gallo.

Depp also recalls Peter Lorre's performance in the film Mad Love and other horror film actors as being key sources of inspiration. On Lorre's performance, Depp says, "[h]e's unbelievably disturbing. Broken and haunting and sweet. Way ahead of its time, that film and performance. The other sort of God for me is Lon Chaney Sr. Aside from Peter Lorre, he would be the other enormous inspiration. Did you ever see his film The Penalty? It's shocking.... His performance is so heightened and gorgeous. I highly recommend that one."

On the amount of blood and gore in the movie musical, Depp says that he remembers "everyone except [himself] covered in plastic trash bags. There'd be a countdown. Three, two, one... action! And then blammo, you know? The great deluge."

Depp also talks about one of his co-stars, Sacha Baron Cohen (star of Borat, who plays Todd's nemesis, Pirelli). Depp said of Sacha Baron Cohen that "he's kind of today's equivalent to Peter Sellers." When asked how he and his long-time collaborator, director Tim Burton, worked together, Depp described it frankly that they've "never had an argument. The process [on Sweeney] has been as smooth as since way back when. Obviously, you want to come up with a character that you are not going to be embarrassed about. With Tim, I just don't want to let him down. Because, you know, he's a brother. He's my family. So that's one of the scariest sorts of things initially. Just making sure I haven't disappointed Tim. Once we get through that then I can kind of make sure I'm okay with it."

Burton and Depp on the set of Sweeney Todd. Photo by Peter Mountain.

When the interviewer, Steve Daly, said to Depp that he "is going to freak out a lot of pre-pubescent girls with this character," Depp enthusiastically exclaimed, "Ah, finally!"

More of the interview can be read here.