Jim Broadbent--who was previously rimoured to play Wilbur in the upcoming
Hairspray but whose role in that film will instead be portrayed by
Christopher Walken--may have signed on to the cast of
Tim Burton's upcoming
Sweeney Todd film.
According to MSN Movies' "Hollywood Hitlist," Broadbent's has been cast in
Sweeney Todd, which will be directed by Burton and star
Johnny Depp. Slated for a late 2007 release, the DreamWorks film adaptation of the
Stephen Sondheim-Hugh Wheeler work will reunite the director and star who have previously collaborated on films such as
Ed Wood, Sleepy Hollow and
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.Although MSN doesn't mention a particular role, Broadbent would presumably be cast as Judge Turpin in the film version of
Sweeney, which spins the macabre tale of a revenge-obsessed demon barber and his assistant, who turns his victims into the worst pies in London. New Line Cinema's
Hairspray film--directed by Adam Shankman and featuring a starry cast led by
John Travolta, Walken, Michelle Pfeiffer,
Queen Latifah and Amanda Bynes--is aiming for a July 2007 release, not putting it in direct competition with the
Sweeney film.
The British Broadbent won an Oscar for his performance in Iris, and his many film credits also include
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Vanity Fair, Nicholas Nickleby,
Gangs of New York, Moulin Rouge, the Bridget Jones' Diary films, Topsy-Turvy, Little Voice, Bullets Over Broadway and The Crying Game.
He is also a stage veteran who has been seen in plays for the Royal
National Theatre and the Royal Shakespeare Company, among others.
