Posted on 8/16/06 at 08:19 PM
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Click here Aug. 17, 2006
Production Starts on 'Sweeney Todd'By Sheigh Crabtree
DreamWorks Studios has announced the official start of production on "Sweeney Todd."
Official word from the studio Wednesday confirmed the project's lead talent and provides additional detail on the movie version of the award-winning Stephen Sondheim musical thriller that will be directed by Tim Burton and star Johnny Depp.
The DreamWorks and Warner Bros. co-production is scheduled to go before cameras in London at Pinewood Studios on Feb. 5 with an anticipated late 2007 release.
Depp will star as the titular Demon Barber of Fleet Street, marking the sixth collaboration between the eccentric actor and visionary director.
Burton has tapped two-time Oscar-winning costume designer Colleen Atwood ("Memoirs of a Geisha") and Oscar-nominated cinematographer Dante Spinotti ("L.A. Confidential") to head up his wardrobe and camera departments.
The deal marks something of a coup for Stacey Snider, CEO and co-chairman of Paramount's DreamWorks, who put the storied musical on the fast track weeks after stepping into her new role at the studio (HR 6/13).
Previously, Paramount was in active development on Burton's "Ripley's Believe It Or Not," starring Jim Carrey. But when that ambitious film's budget spiraled out of control, beyond $150 million, Snider and DreamWorks production execs stepped in with a smart plan for Burton's version of "Todd."
Walter Parkes and Laurie MacDonald will partner with Richard Zanuck and John Logan to produce the screenplay adaptation written by Logan. Snider, and execs Adam Goodman and Mark Sourian are overseeing the project for DreamWorks.
The story of "Sweeney Todd" is of a wrongfully imprisoned barber in Victorian England who sets out to seek revenge on the judge who imprisoned him.
A highly acclaimed stage revival of "Todd" is now playing in New York starring Michael Cerveris as the bloody barber and Patti LuPone as his gleeful accomplice.
Former DreamWorks co-heads Parkes and MacDonald have produced a range of films for the studio including the Oscar-winning "Gladiator," as well as Steven Spielberg's "Minority Report" and "Catch Me If You Can."
"Todd" marks Zanuck's third collaboration with DreamWorks following "Road to Perdition" and "Deep Impact." The pact also marks a reunion for Zanuck with Depp and Burton, with whom he produced "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory."
Logan recently wrote "The Aviator" and "The Last Samurai," and he was nominated for an Oscar for his work on DreamWorks' "Gladiator."
Previous Burton-Depp films include "Charlie," "Corpse Bride," "Ed Wood," "Edward Scissorhands" and "Sleepy Hollow."
Paramount will distribute for DreamWorks domestically and Warner Bros. will handle international distribution.
Burton is still committed to develop Paramount's production of "Ripley's."