Filming of Burton 'Sweeney' Halted; Depp's Daughter Ill

By: Mar. 08, 2007
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According to IMDB News, filming of Tim Burton's Sweeney Todd film has been halted due to the illness of star Johnny Depp's daughter.

The British newspaper The Daily Mirror reports that 7 year-old Lily Rose - Depp's daughter with longtime partner Vanessa Paradis - is seriously ill in an English hospital, and the little girl's parents are holding a vigil at her bedside. She is suffering from an undisclosed illness of which the Mirror claims to know the nature - but is not revealing in order to protect the family's privacy.

"It is such a difficult time for him but he is hanging in there for the sake of his daughter and the whole family is just praying that she gets better. They are taking each day as it comes. It's been an emotional rollercoaster for all of them and he's been worrying himself silly. He's a devoted dad and is spending as much time as he can with Lily," said a hospital source.  Depp and Paradis are also the parents of 4 year-old Jack.

Sweeney Todd, which will be a co-production with Warner Bros., marks the 6th collaboration between the Depp and Burton.  The movie musical began filming in London and Buckinghamshire last month.

In addition to Depp, the film stars Helena Bonham Carter as Mrs. Lovett, Alan Rickman as Judge Turpin, Jayne Wisener as Johanna and Sacha Baran Cohen as Pirelli.

Walter Parkes and Laurie MacDonald partner with Richard Zanuck and John Logan to produce the screenplay adaptation which is written by Logan (The Aviator, Gladiator).  A late 2007 release is planned. Paramount will distribute for DreamWorks domestically and Warner Bros. internationally.

The Broadway production of Sweeney Todd, with Stephen Sondheim's music and lyrics and a book by Hugh Wheeler based on the play by Christopher Bond, opened in 1979 and won eight Tony Awards, including Best Musical.  "Its mix of the comic, the dramatic and the macabre held together by Sondheim's movie-like score has had hundreds of productions throughout the world," according to press notes.  John Doyle's highly acclaimed revival (for which he won a Tony) recently played the Eugene O'Neill Theatre; Michael Cerveris and Patti LuPone starred. 

The story of Sweeney Todd is of a wrongfully imprisoned barber in Victorian England who sets out to seek revenge on the judge who imprisoned him.  He is helped by Mrs. Lovett, who bakes Sweeney's victims into "the worst pies in London."

Photo of Johnny Depp by Linda Lenzi


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