A random thought re: Sweeney movie.

[tenlittlebullets]

I have no doubt that Tim Burton will do a good job on the Sweeney Todd movie (though whether Johnny Depp can sing remains to be seen), but I can't help but feel his style is a little off-kilter for a project like this.  I think he would have been more suited to something like Phantom.  I mean, look at it this way:

On the one hand, a musical that's violent, gleefully fucked up, and driven in large part by its lyrics.

On the other hand, a musical that's dark, romantic, dealing with the fate of an outcast, and very visually oriented.

Solution?  Burton hits Andrew Lloyd Webber over the head until he lets him remake the PotO movie, and then hands Sweeney off to someone who does well with gleefully fucked up and script-driven.

Like, oh, say, Quentin Tarantino.

I would so commit murder to see either a Burton!Phantom or a Tarantino!Sweeney.

Comments

[cloudytm.livejournal.com]

I wholeheartedly agree about Tarantino, but I have to ask...

Am I the only freak who doesn't like the Phantom of the Opera in any form save book? Maybe I'm just a tad put off by how the Phantom seems to get hotter every time I see a picture somewhere. I guess everyone's forgotten how old and well...ugly the Phantom is supposed to be.

Like if one of Erik's phan-girls ever met in him in real-life they'd still want to do him. :)

Wheeeew, sorry that was off topic. I guess I don't particularly care who directs Sweeney, as I don't care anything for Sweeney. Not much of a Depp girl either. Which sets me apart from 99% of the population.

[mmebahorel.livejournal.com]

Well, for years, the lack of a nose was kind of hard to do. I mean, he wasn't just missing the nose. CGI is apparently the solution.

Of course, Raoul turns into more and more of a pansy the hotter the Phantom gets, and I happen to adore the Persian (even if I was making really horrible jokes when Ramin Karimloo was cast in the ALW film).

[duva.livejournal.com]

But the question is; who does the Les Mis flick?

[strokemybow.livejournal.com]

I'm a bit pessimistic about the Sweeney movie. I think Burton can do it, great. But he HAS TO STOP USING DEPP. My god. It's great that they're a team. But still. I don't think Depp can sing a note, and it's assured that it's a musical. I can only see a major let-down.

[duck-killer.livejournal.com]

Have you never seen Cry Baby? He wasn't bad...

[strokemybow.livejournal.com]

I don't doubt Depp's acting skills. What I doubt is his ability to sing and make Sweeney Sweeney. Johnny Depp Sweeney may not cut it. Sweeney is not sexy. He is a vicious, vengeful, disturbed character, though of course, it all depends on the take the actor sees. Johnny Depp is not Sweeney. He is Jack Sparrow, Edward Scissorhands. NOT Sweeney.

Sorry. I'm very angry about that decision they made. If they must cast Depp, they BETTER cast a fantastic Mrs Lovett or I WILL assassinate some people. >.>

[duck-killer.livejournal.com]

I see what you mean...

Amen.

[glamourcorpse.livejournal.com]

Preach it sistah!

[cosmicautumn.livejournal.com]

Tim Burton is god, thus can do know wrong. And aren't all Burton's movies dark, romantic, and about outcasts and very visually oriented? Quentin Tarantino can do Cats.

[10littlebullets.livejournal.com]

Yesss, exactly, which is why he would totally win with a Phantom movie. But while he's dark, I haven't seen him do anything genuinely sick and twisted, which is what makes me wonder about Sweeney.

[shenth.livejournal.com]

Oh, goodness, not Tarantino! I love the man to death, but I had a nightmare where he made it (seriously), and that is not something ever meant for human eyes. He's pulpy and loves it, which could possibly work, but Sweeney is not entirely about violence. Can you picture the crazy characters that would result?

[10littlebullets.livejournal.com]

I dunno, when I thought of Tarantino for Sweeney I was thinking of Pulp Fiction more than Kill Bill or Reservoir Dogs. Because god damn, the script. I have the feeling Tarantino would appreciate Sondheim's lyrics more than Burton would--that is, if his reaction weren't "Hahaha, a musical? You've got to be shitting me." And yeah, he might play up the Grand Guignol aspect, but he's capable of making films that are about more than violence.

[shenth.livejournal.com]

I was thinking more about his latest project that's still in the works. It's a set of pulp films that sound delightful in their campiness, but not intended to be terribly serious.

I don't know enough about Burton to judge his directing style, besides his inclination towards the quirky. His films aren't so much frightening as oddly funny, which may not work either.

[devils-child7.livejournal.com]

I agree with you wholeheartedly, but my main qualm is Depp. Why the hell did they cast someone who can't sing? I forsee that Sweeney will be the same type of movie as Phantom, where the lead can barely sing his part. *sigh*

[shenth.livejournal.com]

*covers ears* No! No! NOOOOO! You lie!

[devils-child7.livejournal.com]

Oh? :/

[shenth.livejournal.com]

It can't be like Phantom! It just can't! The universe would combust.

[devils-child7.livejournal.com]

Ah, that it would. *crosses fingers*

[shenth.livejournal.com]

For it to happen, or for it not to happen?

[devils-child7.livejournal.com]

Not to, most assuredly.

[shenth.livejournal.com]

One never knows. You could be a traitor under all those icons. *peers suspiciously*

[devils-child7.livejournal.com]

*hides* Um, I invoke the fourth amendment?

[10littlebullets.livejournal.com]

I don't know about Depp, honestly. I heard that Sondheim heard him sing and okayed him, which would give me confidence if it's true. But everything's hearsay right now.

[devils-child7.livejournal.com]

Oh, Sondheim's okayed him? Then that's a totally different story...

[10littlebullets.livejournal.com]

Well, like I said, it's hearsay. Could be Sondheim hasn't heard him and has no involvement in the project, could be Sondheim's going to be involved but hasn't heard him yet, could be he heard him and okayed him, could be he heard him and said "He's got talent, so get the boy some voice lessons and maybe I won't put up a screaming fuss."

But the fact that Sondheim hasn't publicly disowned the project gives me a bit of hope. Because damn, did you see him on that video of the Company cast recording? He has no patience for bullshit from his singers, and he has a lot more respect for his own music than Andrew Lloyd Webber does.

[devils-child7.livejournal.com]

...and he has a lot more respect for his own music than Andrew Lloyd Webber does.

Hah!

[10littlebullets.livejournal.com]

According to the Times, Sondheim hasn't heard him yet, but refuses to release the rights unless whoever's playing Sweeney is up to snuff vocally.

I just breathed a gigantic sigh of relief.

[devils-child7.livejournal.com]

Well, thank God.

[silent-sybil.livejournal.com]

Now, what I want to see is a Tarantino!Phantom. ^___^ Can you imagine?