Big Screen Little Screen

Lending a much needed respite from Borat stunts, man about town - Sacha Cohen, is in negotiations to join Johhny Depp in the cinematic musical Sweeney Todd, a Tim Burton production. Based on the Stephen Sondheim “musical thriller” (itself stemming from origins in British folklore and pulp fiction), Burton’s film will feature Depp as Benjamin Barker aka Sweeney Todd, a Victorian London barber. Having returned from wrongful imprisonment, and seeking revenge against a corrupt judge that has brought harm upon his family, the tale evolves into a throat-cutting bloodbath, forshadowed in the Sondheim musical’s opening song: “Attend the tale of Sweeney Todd./His skin was pale and his eye was odd./He shaved the faces of gentlemen/Who never thereafter were heard of again.”

If signed on to the film, Cohen would play “The King of Barbers”, Aldolfo Pirelli, a rival of Todd’s who has an inkling about his dark past . A synopsis of the stage musical reveals a scene, ripe for a Tim Burton translation to the big screen - after publicly dismissing Perelli’s hair-tonic as a concoction of “piss with ink”, Todd challenges him to contests of skill and dexterity - to prove who gives the closest, most efficient shave - and who can prevail in a tooth-pulling competition.

Burton begins pre-recordings late this year, with shooting scheduled to kick off near London next February. Via Production Weekly

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Tags: borat, johnny depp, tim burton, sweeney todd