ROTTEN TOMATOES: Christopher Lee's Role Snipped from "Sweeney Todd"

Christopher Lee's Role Snipped from "Sweeney Todd"

by Scott Weinberg | May 23, 2007

Is it me or does Christopher Lee seem to get cut out of movies a lot? He was supposed to appear in Tim Burton's "Sweeney Todd" adaptation, but his character just got snipped out of the project.

Lee's character of "Gentleman Ghost" is one that does not appear in the Steven Sondheim stage musical, which might help to explain why he's been excised from the screenplay. Fortunately the actor had not yet shot his scenes, so that makes things a little easier to deal with.

"It would have been worse if I had done the scenes, but I never got to film them. It's a shame as the lyrics were wonderful, but these things happen," is what the always-classy Mr. Lee had to say. (Fans will remember how the legendary actor was also cut from the theatrical version of "Return of the King," but reappeared on the Extended Edition that everyone watches anyway.)

Lee and Burton previously worked together on "Corpse Bride," "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory," and "Sleepy Hollow." "Sweeney Todd," which stars Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Sacha Baron Cohen, and Alan Rickman is scheduled to hit theaters on December 21st.

Source: Playbill

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(1-20 of 20 posts) | Reply

ZEZEtheX writes:
on May 23 2007 01:34 AM

sucks for Lee. At least he got paid.

(Reply to this)

See-Jay 420 writes:
on May 23 2007 07:43 AM

Yeah, that stinks. The cast is still impressive even without him though.

(Reply to this)

unbreakable_samurai writes:
on May 23 2007 09:24 AM

What kinda bullshit is that, that sucks.

(Reply to this)

MC. writes:
on May 23 2007 11:03 AM

Lee rules.

Dooku is the best ST character!

(Reply to this)

arendr writes:
on May 23 2007 12:15 PM

This cast is incredible, but I cannot stand 99% of musicals. Even Tim Burton ones. What do I do?

(Reply to this)

blank blank writes:
on May 23 2007 12:31 PM

you hope that its one of the 1% of musicals that you do like. come on man, its burton and depp together! have they ever led you astray?

(Reply to this)

Mr. Kong writes:
on May 23 2007 12:55 PM

In reply to this comment (#866572)
The Nightmare Before Christmas better be that 1%!

(Reply to this)

neclordsword writes:
on May 23 2007 01:01 PM

Any film that nixes a role for Lee is making a grievous error...oh well.

(Reply to this)

villain78 writes:
on May 23 2007 01:56 PM

In reply to this comment (#866572)
You can't lose with Tim Burton and that cast. Also, Stephen Sondheim is one helluva tunesmith. His stuff is really dark. He wrote a musical about real-life assassins for cryin' out loud! Just the elements together make for one exciting project. And I do agree that Nightmare Before Christmas is probably one of the best non-stage musicals out there.

(Reply to this)

arendr writes:
on May 23 2007 01:59 PM

In reply to this comment (#866574)
Sadly, it is not. I've never understood the hype about that movie. It is visually astonishing. I just find it gets on my nerves and mostly bores me.

I love music (I write music as a hobby), but I find the way it is used in musicals tedious. It never advances the plot, it just nails the film to the same place for 3 minutes. A movie should be structured so that every scene, every line of dialogue, advances the plot some degree.

Can you tell that I write screenplays too? Maybe I should write the world's first musical to actually adhere to my rules.

(Reply to this)

dagreenman18 writes:
on May 23 2007 02:35 PM

December 21. I FOUND MY CHRISTMAS MOVIE!!!!!

(Reply to this)

bigbrother writes:
on May 23 2007 03:40 PM

In reply to this comment (#866577)
I think you're kinda missing the point of musicals and I disagree that every line of dialog has to advance the plot. Sometimes little cast off lines are more memorable than rousing speeches that progress the plot. That's why sometimes supporting characters are more fun than the main ones. Jack Sparrow comes to mind as we are in a Depp related thread. Many of his lines were strictly for comedy relief, but the Pirates movies would be pretty worthless without him. Those little bits of comic levity that serve no other purpose than to give the audience a tickle are sometimes what can lift your average by the book, seen it a thousand times plot and make it new and enjoyable again. I take your point that most of the time it's strong dialog and sound plot that provide the meat and potatoes of a good movie, but I don't think you can discount the little spicy bits either.

For those of you who don't like 99% of musicals I would recommend going to see Wicked. I just saw it for the 3rd time at the Apollo Victoria and still left with a smile on my face..."Stealing a dead woman's shoe's? What were you born in a barn?" :) You'll never look at the Wizard of Oz the same way again. Don't read the books though. They're terrible.

(Reply to this)

arendr writes:
on May 23 2007 03:48 PM

In reply to this comment (#866579)
I think you took what I wrote a bit too literally. And perhaps with reason. But I think that even those throwaway lines do advance the story in very much the same way. They reveal character traits and add to the believability of the story.

I do understand the point of musicals. I would love to see a musical that truly moves or entertains me. The problem is that I usually find myself impatiently tapping my fingers (and not in time to the music).

(Reply to this)

Mr. Kong writes:
on May 23 2007 07:11 PM

In reply to this comment (#866577)
Ahh well.

(Reply to this)

bigbrother writes:
on May 24 2007 01:43 AM

In reply to this comment (#866580)
Fair enough, I can see what you meant now. Musicals aen't for everyone I guess. I feel the same way about Opera's. What musicals have you been to see. I usually like musicals, but even I have trouble sitting thru Cats :) One's I'd recommend: Wicked, Phantom of the Opera, The Producers and The Lion King (Not the best ever produced, but the things they've done with the costumes make it worthwhile.)

(Reply to this)

Mr. Kong writes:
on May 24 2007 12:47 PM

In reply to this comment (#866577)
Just out of curiosity, what is that 1%.

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arendr writes:
on May 24 2007 01:58 PM

In reply to this comment (#866583)
You're making me dive back into repressed memories of time sitting through musicals?

Boy...I once saw a version of Little Shop of Horrors that I remember enjoying a bit.

However I may have said 99% just to not be completely judgemental about the genre. People are a little too eager to dismiss entire genres I think (although 99% is pretty dismissive).

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killermonkey8822 writes:
on May 24 2007 09:10 PM

this is a musical?........ well there's part of my interest gone........ but a part will stay there since it stars johnny depp and is directed by tim burton........ i typed in Jim Carrey under celebs or whatever that thing is and it said "believe it or not" directed by timothy burton (which i click on as it shows all of tim burton's movies) then it said 2007 so i am very confused by that but whatever.

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unbreakable_samurai writes:
on May 25 2007 01:07 PM

In reply to this comment (#866585)
Burton and Carrey were going to make Believe it or Not and have it come out this year but Carrey wasn't happy with the script, so while it's getting polished up Burton desided to make this and then Believe it or Not after wards for release in 08 or 09.

(Reply to this)

killermonkey8822 writes:
on May 25 2007 04:25 PM

In reply to this comment (#866586)
alright........ that makes sense......... thanks for telling me man.......... i don't know if i am looking forward to a movie about robert ripley though now that i think about it

(Reply to this)