"Alice" Theatrical Run Shortened

Disney CEO Bob Iger has decided to cut the theatrical run of Alice in Wonderland by a few weeks, the Hollywood Reporter states.

Normally, movies remain in cinemas for a 16-week run. But the theatrical run for Alice will be truncated to just under 13 weeks.

This experiment might become a growing trend for movies in general. Shortening the theatrical run of films might make home entertainment methods of viewing movies (Video On Demand, DVD, Blu-ray) more successful.

Another benefit would be freeing up the 3D and IMAX movie screens. Alice will be bumping Avatar off the map widely, and the 3D release of Warner Bros' Clash of the Titans (release date April 2nd) will be following Alice.

The abbreviated theatrical run will likely take effect in both the UK and the United States.

"Batman" on Blu-Ray

DVD Review has reported that Warner Bros. is planning on releasing Batman on a two-disc Blu-Ray set for its twentieth anniversary next year. No artwork is ready yet, but the release date is tentatively scheduled for March 31st, 2009.

The article stated that the release will come as two-disc Digibook version, containing a BD-25 for the movie and the second disc for the bonus materials. No other information, such as which extras will be featured, have been announced yet.

Burton + Depp + August = "Dark Shadows"?

IESB.net has stated that director Peter Segal recently said that John August has written a screenplay adaptation for the TV series Dark Shadows -- and that Tim Burton is attached to direct it and Johnny Depp is (supposedly) to star in it.

Dark Shadows was a television series which ran from 1966 to 1971. It was a popular gothic soap opera, featuring vampires, werewolves, and other ghoulish creatures.

An image from the original series Dark Shadows.

This could be the secret project that John August wrote on his website late last year.

John August wrote the screenplays of Tim Burton's Big Fish, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and Corpse Bride.

Rumors of Burton and Depp teaming up for a big-screen version of Shadows came up on the Internet months ago. And this more official claim seems to encourage those beliefs. But just because Burton is attached to direct the film, it doesn't mean that he necessarily will. Months ago, Warner Bros. had Burton attached to helm an adaptation of the fantasy novel The Spook's Apprentice. But eventually, Burton moved to other projects (his upcoming Frankenweenie and Alice and Wonderland at Disney), and Kevin Lima is now currently signed on to direct Apprentice.

We'll have to wait and see what the future holds for Burton, Depp, and this planned Dark Shadows movie.

Burton on Blood in "Sweeney Todd"

Tim Burton has stated that the highly stylized use of blood in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street was crucial for the story. He says that he let the bosses at DreamWorks and Warner Bros. know that "blood was part of the production" as soon as he proposed his desire to make the movie version of the musical.

Talking about their initial meetings, he said: "It's an amazing thing that [we said]: 'We're gonna do an R rated musical with no professional singers, with lots of blood, about a serial killer and cannibalism', and they go 'Great!'. That was unheard of, I've never had that happen in my life before."



The filmmaker added that the fake blood used for the movie was orange, sticky, and curiously sweet. "It was our own special recipe, very sticky, very sweet and it burns your eyes."

The young Ed Sanders, who plays Toby in the film, also gave his opinion of the purposefully unrealistic gore in the film: "For a start, [it] was orange, and you could also see it actually pumping in through the pipes around the people they were killing's necks."

Good thing for star of the film Johnny Depp, who revealed that he is squeamish of seeing blood.

"There's a lot of blood-letting in the film but I like to keep mine inside me thank you very much.

"I'm not very good with the sight of my own blood. Nobody likes to be prodded or poked in any way, whether it's in the doctor's office or in jail."

Depp continued: "I always look away when I draw blood at the doctor's office. The blood we use is very theatrical. That's one of the reasons it still feels like a play to me. The realistic edge is off."

Burton admitted that he shared Depp's phobia, but didn't have a problem with their false blood concoction used during filming.

New "Sweeney Todd" Wide Release Date: December 21st!

DreamWorks and Paramount have decided to give Tim Burton's Sweeney Todd a wide release in the United States for Christmas. The original wide release date was January 11th, 2008, assuming that the film didn't have the potential to be a commercial success. But some studio executives saw some clips of the upcoming movie, and realized the film has much broader appeal than they assumed before (despite it being a violent musical). Variety wrote, "The hope is that "Sweeney" will be the sort of signature role for Depp that Captain Jack Sparrow in Disney's "Pirates of the Caribbean" franchise was." However, the article stated that, "at the same time, DreamWorks and Paramount aren't likely to go out with "Sweeney." The studios aren't planning on releasing the film in more than 1,500 theaters in the United States on opening weekend.

Rumors of "Sweeney Todd" Cuts Dismissed

Much fuss has been appearing online saying that Warner Bros. wanted Tim Burton to cut some of the more gorey and bloody scenes from Sweeney Todd in order for the film to receive a PG-13 rating by the MPAA. But Variety has stated that these claims are false. "DreamWorks has always said it was an R," says Anne Thompson of Variety. "Anyone who knows the show knows that it involves killing and meat pies."

Mark Salisbury, who is writing the companion book to Sweeney Todd, also dismissed the rumors of Todd receiving a post-production slashing. Salisbury wrote on his blog, "all those reports of Burton being asked to cut back on the blood in the movie, don't believe a word of it."

10 Minutes of "Sweeney Todd" at Venice Film Festival on September 5th

The Stephen Sondheim Society has announced that, on Wednesday, September 5th, the 64th Venice International Film Festival will be honoring director Tim Burton with a 24 hour Tim Burton Day. Warner Bros. has confirmed that during the day, a ten minute preview of "Sweeney Todd" will be shown.

In addition to ten minutes of his upcoming film being shown, Tim Burton will be awarded the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement.

Tim Burton and his films have been praised with great enthusiasm at Venice, most recently with the stop-motion film Corpse Bride when it was shown there, which received ecstatic applause and reviews.