Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street |
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![]() Theatrical release poster
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Directed by | Tim Burton |
Produced by | |
Screenplay by | John Logan |
Based on |
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street by Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler |
Starring | |
Music by | Stephen Sondheim |
Cinematography | Dariusz Wolski |
Edited by | Chris Lebenzon |
Production
companies |
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Distributed by |
Paramount Pictures (North America) Warner Bros. Pictures (International) |
Release date
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Running time
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116 minutes |
Country |
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Language | English |
Budget | $50 million |
Box office | $152.5 million |
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (also known simply as Sweeney Todd) is a 2007 British-American musical period horror film directed by Tim Burton and an adaptation of Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler's Tony Award-winning 1979 musical of the same name. The film re-tells the Victorian melodramatic tale of Sweeney Todd, an English barber and serial killer who murders his customers with a straight razor and, with the help of his accomplice, Mrs. Lovett, processes their corpses into meat pies. The film stars Johnny Depp as the titular character, and Helena Bonham Carter as Mrs. Lovett.
Having been struck by the cinematic qualities of Sondheim's musical while still a student, Burton had entertained the notion of a film version since the early 1980s. However, it was not until 2006 that he had the opportunity to realize this ambition, when DreamWorks announced his appointment as replacement for director Sam Mendes, who had been working on such an adaptation. Sondheim, although not directly involved, was extensively consulted during production. Depp, not known for his singing, took lessons in preparation for his role, which producer Richard D. Zanuck acknowledged was something of a gamble. However, Depp's vocal performance, despite being criticized as lacking certain musical qualities, was generally thought by critics to suit the part.