Weihnachten nähert sich und damit auch der Kinostart der Verfilmung des Stephen Sondheim-Musicals “Sweeney Todd” mit Johnny Depp in der Hauptrolle. Was genau die Zuschauer erwartet? Stephen Sondheim jedenfalls scheint nicht unzufrieden zu sein. Roger Friedman von Fox411 berichtet:

I asked Sondheim, by the way, if he’d seen Tim Burton’s movie version of «Sweeney Todd.” He has, and he says he likes it. «It’s not the Broadway show,” he warned me. «It’s only an hour and 45 minutes. A lot of the score has been cut. They’ve made it its own thing. You have to go in knowing that. But what they’ve done is great.”

Beim Filmfestival in Venedig zeigte Tim Burton einige Ausschnitte aus “Sweeney Todd”. “Ain’titcool” war dabei und berichtet:

The film opens with a style similar to the second Batman with everything having a washed out and almost black & white look. Johnny starts to speak to Helena. There’s a real sadness and despair quality to his voice. Helena informs him that his whole family has been killed. He then says my name is no longer (can’t remember) but now it is Sweeney Todd so I can seek my revenge. Helena leads him upstairs to what appears to be her apartment. There is a baby crib covered with a blanket. She tells Johnny that its ok to look. He removes the blanket to reveal a dead baby. He then covers it back up. Helena bends down to remove a floorboard. She pulls out a case covered in dust. She removes the dust and hands it to Johnny. Johnny opens it with a gleam in his eye to reveal a box full of old fashioned razor-blade style knives. The camera has a long pause on the knives. Helena informs him that the knives are all silver. He agrees to that. He pulls one out and opens it.
Johnny Depp then starts to SING!!!!!! Yes, you read that correctly. Johnny sings on camera. Not a body double. Not an animated figure. But Johnny himself. And I’m here to tell you he has a killer voice. I wish I had a recording of the lyrics for you. Johnny sings a love song to the razor blade as he holds it in his hand! The song is about how happy he is to finally have the blade in his hands for his sweet revenge. Towards the end of the song, Helena joins in and they sing a duet to a knife!!!!! The scene ends with Jonny holding the knife in his hand and he says “Now, my arm is complete!”
The camera pulls back through the window to reveal a city from the 1800s. Lights come up. The audience is stunned.