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Sweeney Todd Opening in Wide Release December 21st

by Alex Billington
August 28, 2007
Source: Variety

This is exciting news for some of you who are interested, or maybe for anyone. Featured in our Fall / Winter 2007 Movie Guide, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street is a Broadway musical adaptation directed by Tim Burton (Batman, Big Fish, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory) and starring Johnny Depp. The film was initially planned to open in limited release on December 21st with a wider expansion on January 11th (pending how well it does in limited theaters). That decision has now been overruled and Sweeney Todd will be arriving in full wide release across the country on December 21st.

Both myself and Peter from SlashFilm are a little skeptical if this announcement is the result of the report we posted yesterday about the film being cut from R to PG-13. Apparently this official press release from Paramount claims that the film is still aiming for an R rating. The studio is trying to capitalize on the Johnny Depp and Tim Burton fans and do their best to make as much money as possible. A wide release for an R rated film like this in late December will mean it will probably hit a solid 1500 screens, but not a full 3000 screen opening (like Spider-Man 3 or Shrek 3, for example).

A new version of the poster was discovered as well, which you can see below.

Sweeney Todd

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Related categories: Hype, Movie News

Sweeney Fan

lol you give yourself to much credit. IMHO, after reading the ENTIRE Variety article, what clips the execs have seen has been very good and they are VERY confident in the movie. From Anne Thompson's Blog SUNDAY UPDATE: DreamWorks has always said it was an R. Anyone who knows the show knows that it involves killing and meat pies. MONDAY UPDATE: My sources say that the issue of cutting back the violence is "wild rumors." Neither studio has seen the whole film; it won't screen until the third week of September. But as a measure of their enthusiasm, on the basis of all that they have seen and the strength of their marketing materials, the studios have decided to release the movie wide at Christmas instead of limited at Christmas and wide in January. That suggests they expect robust holiday business. As for the violence, the movie is what it is. That's not going to be the issue.
http://www.firstshowing.net Alex Billington

Yes, but you realize this is Hollywood, everything revolves around publicity and making a good image. All they could've done is written in some text that says "they are VERY confident in the movie" because it looks good on paper. They're probably trying to cover up that bad image. Who knows really what the thoughts on the back end are. And who knows that they couldn't claim that they're confident in it ONCE it gets a PG-13 rating. That's how I see this... I can't say the previous report was rumors or not, but for all we know it could be a publicity stunt to cover it up. However, I do thank you for providing your information as it is very valuable and important. No matter the result, I'm still fully exciting and will promote Sweeney Todd as much as I can!
Phil

Any indication that they're going for a PG-13 rating tells me they want it to be a popcorn movie. Killing and meat pies do not go well with popcorn. Bring it strong, Paramount. Give us the R version.
Heckle

RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR Give us Tim Burton's Sweeney Todd.....not Paramounts.
Zach

I like that poster a lot.
sweeney Fan

Hmmmm! To me actions speak louder then words. Going from a platform release and see if it builds to an all out wider release of 1500 does say alot. I don't think the studio would take the risk unless they were indeed confident in what they've seen so far. For now, I'm sticking with the R rating all the way and the more reliable sources verses that of the tabloid Daily Mail where all of the rumors originated.
Susan

This movie cannot be any gorier than Texas Chainsaw Massacre (newer version) or several other horror movies! "PG"? Bwhahahahahaha!!! This one is based on a true story..he isn't called the DEMON BARBER OF FLEET STREET because he bakes cookies!!! I personally am looking forward to this film especially to see Johnny and to hear him sing!! Tim Burton and Johnny Depp have NEVER let their fans down and they are not about to start now. So anyone who wants more edited out can kiss the fatest part of my American ass!!!