Monday, March 30, 2009

Bonham Carter Wins Award, Burton Discusses "Alice"



The 2009 Jameson Empire Awards show was hosted this past Sunday in London's Grosvenor House. Tim Burton and Helena Bonham Carter attended.

Their film Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street was nominated for five awards: Best Horror, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best Soundtrack. The musical-thriller didn't take most of its potential awards home (including Johnny Depp's nomination for Best Actor), except for Helena Bonham Carter, who was honored for her portrayal as Mrs. Lovett.


Here is Bonham Carter's acceptance speech (watch the video of her speech in this link):

"Thanks so much. This is a real compliment, I'm very chuffed. I did work actually incredibly hard for that role, but I loved every bit of it, and it was so many dreams come true. Because I always wanted to be in a musical, to sing, to be in something written by Steven Sondheim - he's a genius - and I always wanted a baby girl. I actually got all that, thanks to Tim Burton. And I know he always wanted to be Best Actress, so this is as much his as mine. Thank you!"



At the show, the actress mentioned how she would love to do more musicals in the future: "I'd love to do it but no-one's asked, I would be really up for it though."

She also talked about the singing abilities of her co-star, Johnny Depp, versus her own skills: "To be absolutely honest, people are born to sing, I wasn't born to sing but I could just do it and I only did it after about six months of training. If I'd known I was going to play that part I should have started training years ago, it's a muscle that needs to be exercised."

She added: "I would love to do more, given the chance, and I loved every second of doing it."

And she continued to say how thankful she has been to be a part of Tim Burton's world. "I feel really lucky to still feature in Tim's imagination. I know I've borne his illegitimate children and we're very happily together but it's really fantastic that I still seem to occur in his imagination," she said.

Helena Bonham Carter will be playing the role of the Red Queen in Alice in Wonderland.



Michael Sheen and Helena Bonham Carter


While on the subject, Burton talked a bit about Alice in Wonderland:

"Way down the rabbit hole" was Burton's status report. "There's a long way to go."

Empire asked Burton how much CGI would be involved in the film: "I'm not quite sure yet - doing a big budget movie is an organic process and gives the opportunity to experiment. It’s something that was presented to me and I’d never seen really a movie version of [the story] that I like, so I thought I’d just give it a shot."



The director also gave his feelings about working with 3D: "I like the 3-D aspect of it, I think it fits the material very well, and it doesn’t give me a headache like it used to."

"I think it’s good for anything. There are other uses than having spears stuck into your face - I think there are more visceral, emotional uses, especially if you use lots of textures."


Michael Sheen, who will be in Alice in Wonderland, also attended the awards show. The British actor presented Helena Bonham Carter her award.



You can see more photos from the celebration in this link:



Michael Sheen with Gerard Butler


Tim Burton with fellow director Paul Greengrass (The Bourne Ultimatum, United 93)



Photo credits: Gareth Gay, Jeff Spicer / Alpha

Sunday, March 22, 2009

"Dark Shadows" Update


The big-screen adaptation of Dark Shadows might be a bit delayed -- but that might be a good indication that Johnny Depp and possibly Tim Burton, who are both quite busy right now with several projects, will be making the movie.

Sam Sarkar, Infinitum’s director of development, confirmed that Depp would star in the movie. And Burton directing?: "I can neither confirm nor deny that,” he said. “But I know it’s out there in the ether."

Another (albeit anonymous) insider in Hollywood had this to say: "It is our intention to still start the movie in the fall. We're trying to work it out, and Tim Burton is Johnny's first and only choice to direct."

So while the shoot might be postponed, the project is very active in pre-production currently.

More information to come in the future!

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

20th Anniversary "Batman" Blu-ray Due May 19


On May 19th, Warner Bros. will release a twentieth anniversary Blu-ray of Batman. In the special edition will be a special Digibook, which will feature "50 pages of collectible essays, trivia, photos, original script pages, and the DC Comics comic book adaptation of the film," says dvdtown.com.

The bonus features will include:

• Commentary by director Tim Burton
• On the Set with Bob Kane
• Legends of the DARK KNIGHT: The History of BATMAN: The Comic Book Saga as Reinvented and Reinterpreted over Seven Decades
Shadows of the Bat: The Cinematic Saga of the DARK KNIGHT Parts 1-3:
• The Road to GOTHAM CITY
• The Gathering Storm
• The Legend Reborn
Beyond Batman Documentary Gallery
Six Featurettes:
• Visualizing Gotham: The Production Design of BATMAN
• Building the BATMOBILE
• Those Wonderful Toys: The Props and Gadgets of BATMAN
• Designing the BAT-SUIT
• From Jack to THE JOKER
• Nocturnal Overtures: The Music of BATMAN
• Three Prince Music Videos: "Batdance", "Partyman", "Scandalous"
• The Heroes and The Villains Profile Galleries
• BATMAN: The Complete ROBIN Storyboard Sequence
• Theatrical trailer
• Digital Copy capability includes a single non-transferable download of the full-length film (compatible with iTunes® and Windows Media devices)

Thursday, March 12, 2009

Disney Twenty-Three Magazine Scans

Here are some scans from the March 10th issue of the new quarterly Disney magazine, Disney Twenty-Three! Mark Salisbury (editor of the book Burton on Burton) wrote the article on Alice in Wonderland. Pictures include images from the film (like Mia Wasikowska in her Alice outfit), concept art, Tim Burton and Helena Bonham Carter, and a Burton/Disney timeline. Click on the images below for larger versions!

Thanks to



Tuesday, March 10, 2009

"Batman" Blu-ray Anthology Available



Batman: The Motion Picture Anthology 1989-1997 is now available on Blu-ray. The normal retail price is $129.95, and is packed with bonus materials on Batman, Batman Returns, Batman Forever, and Batman and Robin.

Friday, March 06, 2009

Empire Honors "Sweeney"


The nominees for the Jameson Empire Awards 2009 have been announced, and Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street has been nominated for five awards:

Best Horror
Best Actor - Johnny Depp
Best Actress - Helena Bonham Carter
Best Director - Tim Burton
Best Soundtrack

Sign up for free to vote now! Winners will be announced on March 29th.