New Photo of Depp and Burton on Set of "Sweeney Todd"

IGN.com has released the first photo of Tim Burton on Johnny Depp on the set of "Sweeney Todd." Behold!:

"Sweeney Todd" to be Rated "R" in USA

EW.com has confirmed that Sweeney Todd will be given the MPAA rating of "R" in the USA. The article goes on to mention Tim Burton's impression on making the film, which he said was one of his most challenging yet. ''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," the director says.

Helena Bonham Carter also went on to describe working on the film, saying how training for the demaning Sondheim songs was more like getting ready for a "sport." Also, the actress did extensive hours of baking in preparation for the movie musical. ''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.'' Bonham Carter, however, was very enthusiastic about the look of her creepy character. ''The look is fantastic,'' the actress says. ''I'd wear this makeup anyway. But it might start a whole craze.'' Let's just hope her recipes don't catch on."

The film is due for a limited US release on December 21st, 2007, just in time for Christmas. It may not sound like a jolly holiday film, but Burton joked, ''Red is a color at Christmas." Although he wouldn't be averse to it being billed as a Valentine's Day film, either. ''For me, it sort of sums up relationships,'' says Burton. ''Although people might be horrified by that.''

Read on for more details!

New Pic of "Sweeney Todd"

The first picture of Burton's upcoming Sweeney Todd has been released!:

Helena Bonham Carter Pregnant

Pictures taken of Tim Burton, Helena Bonham Carter, and their three-year-old son, Billy Ray, on a beach in Italy on August 6th, 2007, show Bonham Carter is pregnant with the couple's second child. The couple officially announced their expected child the next day. Photos provided by www.helena-world.com.

Burton and Bonham Carter Expecting Second Child!

Tim Burton and Helena Bonham Carter have announced that they are expecting a second child later this year. The due date is December 7th, 2007. Their first child, Billy Ray Burton, was born in October 2003.




Bonham Carter's representative, Karon Maskill, has said, "[they] are very happy to be expecting their second child later this year." . Bonham Carter has said that she felt Burton put a spell on her when they first met. "I met Tim again at my brother's house, and magic happened," she said to the Radio Times. "It was like someone taking my world and twisting it a crucial 15 degrees."


Photo by: Richard Young / startraks

New "Sweeney Todd" Poster!

Aint It Cool News has announced that Comic-Con released the new poster for Burton's upcoming Sweeney Todd last week. The credits have been adjusted for changes in the production, and the poster also shows a new tagline: "Never forget. Never forgive." Click on the picture for a much larger, high-quality version.

"Sweeney Todd" Clips to Be Shown at Comic-Con

Entertainment Weekly (http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20047473,00.html) has announced that Tim Burton will appear at San Diego's Comic-Con 2007 to show clips of Sweeney Todd. The convention runs from July 26th to the 29th. The limited U.S. release date of the film is still December 21st, and the wide release in the U.S. will be January 11th, 2008.

Sondheim Talks "Todd"

According to Sandy George of The Australian (http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,22052581-15803,00.html), Stephen Sondheim said at Sydney's Theatre Royal last Friday that the film adaptation of his musical "Sweeney Todd" will be, for the most part, very similar to his original conception of the show. Sondheim acknowledged that during the process of filming the musical originally made for the live stage, certain parts had to be cut for time consideration. "There are songs that have been cut, and cuts within some of the songs, but generally it is pretty much the score," Sondheim said. But despite a few alterations, Sondheim reassures that "the plot is very little changed ... It is pretty faithful." Sondheim also stated that the film would have that macabre Burton feel to it, saying that "It has got a lot of blood in it, and that's fine by me."

Tim Burton and Helena Bonham Carter Attend "Harry Potter 5" Premiere

Tim Burton and Helena Bonham Carter arrived at a cinema in central London to see the premiere of the newest film in the series, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, on Tuesday, July 3rd, 2007. Helena Bonham Carter has a role in the film as the character Bellatrix Lestrange. Photo provided by the Associated Press.

View more pictures here, provided by the Collective's very own Melanie McDermott, a.k.a. Pierrot Somepeople : http://www.flickr.com/photos/pierrotsomepeople/sets/72157600631562233/

No "Ripley's" for Burton?, and "Sweeney Todd" Filming Completed

Reports are suggesting that Tim Burton might not be the director for the upcoming film, Ripley's Believe it or Not!, according to ComingSoon.net (http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=21120). The chances that the film would begin shooting after Burton completed Sweeney Todd were in doubt before, until Steve Oedekerk wrote a new draft of the screenplay, which gave some hope to the future of the project. No official news are up yet at the moment.

Also, it looks like Sweeney Todd has completed principal shooting, according to Playbill News (http://www.playbill.com/news/article/108819.html). The macabre musical will now begin post-production and should be ready for its U.S. limited release date of December 21st, 2007.

Christopher Lee Cut From "Sweeney Todd"?

An article on Stephen Sondheim's own website (http://www.sondheim.org/php/news.php?id=2299) from the Sunday Telegraph has stated that Christopher Lee's character, the Gentleman Ghost, has been cut from Tim Burton's upcoming film version of Sweeney Todd. Half a dozen other actors who were to play more singing ghosts have been axed from the film, too. Sondheim had greatly approved of Lee's operatic singing (he recently released a CD), but a tight production schedule is most likely to be the reason that the singing ghosts parts were cut. Lee was eager to participate in what would have been his fourth collaboration with Burton (they first worked together on 1999's Sleepy Hollow). The actor said that "It would have been worse if I had done the scenes, but I never got to film them." Lee continued saying "It's a shame as the lyrics were wonderful, but these things happen."

Helena Bonham-Carter Reveals More Tidbits on "Todd"

A new interview with Helena Bonham-Carter with the Times reveals some little details about the making of Sweeney Todd, as well as her relationship with Tim Burton and their son, Billy Ray:

http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/film/article1711485.ece

"Vincent" in 3D and "Sweeney Todd" Release Dates Announced!

The Hollywood Reporter (http://www.movieweb.com/news/53/18853.php) has some good news for Burton fans: Not only is The Nightmare Before Christmas going to return to theaters in 3D this fall, but Tim Burton's 1982 stop-motion short film, Vincent, will also be released with it, also in 3D!

For anyone who wants to mark their calendars, some release dates for Tim Burton's next feature film, Sweeney Todd, have been released. ComingSoon.net (http://www.comingsoon.net/films.php?id=16053) has said that Sweeney Todd is set for limited release (most likely Los Angeles and New York City) just in time for Christmas, on December 21st, 2007. However, anyone living in the US but not in that area might need to wait until January 11th, 2008 for the wide release of the Sondheim musical's big-screen debut. IMDb.com (http://imdb.com/title/tt0408236/releaseinfo) has listed release dates for other countries (however, it is not officially determined if all of these are accurate or not):

Italy	5 September 2007	(Venice Film Festival)
USA	21 December 2007	(limited)
Norway	11 January 2008
USA	11 January 2008
Australia	24 January 2008
Netherlands	24 January 2008
UK	25 January 2008

Matthew Bourne's Edward Scissorhands update

Just a quick update on the Edward Scissorhands ballet tour. You can find a tour itinerary here. You can find pictures from the tour here, including (joy!) some photos of Johnny Depp visiting the cast. So try and catch the show if you still can!

Sweeney Todd filming underway

Sweeney Todd is currently shooting at the Pinewood studios in London. Yahoo has a news article with some new bits of information ; http://news.yahoo.com/s/playbill/20070227/en_playbill/106058

The article reveals Christopher Lee's character character is "the gentleman ghost".

Also, Stephen Sondheim himself sounds pretty positive about the project: "Sometimes a story or stage production has to wait a long time until the right people come together to turn it into a motion picture. That's what has happened with Sweeney Todd and I'm excited as well as confident that it will be a first-rate and startling movie."

Sweeney Todd teaser poster and new cast members!

Sorry for the somewhat late update; Variety has released an official teaser poster of Sweeney Todd. Click on the above thumbnail to see a larger version. The poster also confirms a few casting rumours; Timothy Spall and Christopher Lee will indeed appear in the movie!

This marks the first time Burton will work with the British actor Timothy Spall (Wormtail from the Harry Potter movies) and it will be his fourth collaboration with the legendary Christopher Lee.

Timothy Spall's role has been reported to be Beadle Bramford. Christopher Lee's role is still unknown.

Thanks to karloffornia13, Fuzzy Duck and other loyal Burtonites for reporting this!

Edward Scissorhands ballet tour info and Believe it or Not update

Two small news items today. For those of you that don't already know, Matthew Bourne's stage production of Edward Scissorhands is currently on tour in America. More information on the dates and locations can be found here.
Also, Variety reports that Steve Oederkerk (Kung Pow) is working on the script for Believe It or Not, with Burton and Jim Carrey still attached. So we may yet see this delayed biopic of Robert Ripley after Burton is finished with Sweeney Todd.

Sweeney Todd updates

Technical problems have prevented any news being posted in a while, so here is a quick update on the latest Burton news. Alan Rickman has been cast as Judge Turpin in Sweeney Todd. There are also rumours that Anthony Stewart Head (Giles in Buffy the Vampire Slayer) will play a role in the film.
In other news, The Nightmare Before Christmas 3D is now on release in the UK and Empire Magazine has an interview with Burton on their site.

Borat and Sweeney Todd. Very nice! High five!

We reported a while back on the rumour about Sacha Baron Cohen playing a role in Sweeney Todd. Well the English comedian, whose film Borat is currently busting blocks around the world, has been officially confirmed as playing Pirelli by Variety.

Most of you have probably heard this sad news already, but another Burton collaborator, Jack Palance, has recently passed away. Palance had a long career in Hollywood, appearing in, of course, Batman and many other classic movies.

Nightmare Before Christmas 3D leaves screens

Now that Halloween is over, Nightmare 3D has stopped playing just about everywhere. For those of you who weren't lucky enough to see it this time, Disney has promised they intend to bring it back for future Halloweens, hopefully on more screens. And if you're interested in box office figures, Nightmare 3D earned over $6 million in less than two weeks of release, pushing the film's lifetime box office to over $56 million, meaning it's passed the box office totals of both Corpse Bride and Edward Scissorhands.