Barber Benjamin Barker (Depp) is falsely arrested, charged and sentenced to a life of hard labor in Australia by Judge Turpin (Rickman), who covets Barker's wife, Lucy (Kelly). Returning 15 years later, Barker adopts the alias Sweeney Todd before bidding farewell to young sailor Anthony Hope (Bower) and returning to his old flat above Nellie Lovett's pie shop on Fleet Street. She tells him that after his arrest, his wife was raped by Turpin, causing her to poison herself out of shame. Following that, Turpin took Barker's daughter Johanna as his ward. Todd vows revenge reopens his barber shop in the flat.

Anthony wanders the streets of London, where he sees Todd's now-teenage daughter Johanna, and instantly falls in love with her. His attraction forces a confrontation with Turpin and his associate Beadle Bamford (Spall), who beat Anthony and leave him alive with a warning to never come back. Meanwhile, Todd, after murdering rival barber Pirelli (Cohen) following his attempts at blackmail, is approached by Mrs. Lovett, who suggests using the corpse as meat for her pies. Todd agrees, and installs machinery in his barbers' chair to empty the bodies of his victims into a chute to Lovett's basement bakehouse. Mrs. Lovett meanwhile takes Toby, Pirelli's former assistant, under her care and employs him at the pie shop.

Judge Turpin discovers Johanna's plans to flee with Anthony and sends her to an insane asylum. As Todd's barber shop and Lovett's pie shop prosper financially, Mrs. Lovett confesses her desire to marry Todd, moments before Anthony returns to reveal that he has found Johanna. Todd instructs Anthony to disguise himself as a wig maker's apprentice and infiltrate the asylum to free Johanna, offering him sanctuary in the barber shop until he can escape London. Following Anthony's departure, Todd writes a letter to Turpin informing him of Anthony's plans, and sends Toby to deliver it.

When Toby returns, he voices his mistrust of Todd to Mrs. Lovett. Mrs. Lovett lures him into the bakehouse and locks him inside. As Lovett warns Todd of Toby's suspicions, they are both surprised by Beadle Bamford, commissioned by the neighborhood to investigate "strange smells" from the bakehouse. While Todd lures Bamford to his barber shop, Toby is in the bakehouse, where he finds a human thumb in one of the pies. He discovers stacks of human corpses just as the corpse of the Beadle comes out of the chute. Toby flees into the sewers, narrowly avoiding Todd and Mrs. Lovett.

Meanwhile, Anthony and Johanna return to Todd's barber shop, where Anthony tells Johanna to wait for him. Disguised in men's clothing, Johanna takes a look around the shop, where she picks up a picture of what is actually her mother holding her. She quickly scrambles into the chest in the corner of the room as the beggar woman enters, looking for Beadle Bamford. Soon after, Todd returns to the shop and is surprised by the beggar woman. Hearing Turpin about to enter, Sweeney quickly slits the beggar woman's throat and sends her body down the chute. Turpin enters the room seconds later and accepts Todd's offer of a shave. Looming with his sharp razor over Turpin, Todd reveals his true identity and brutally murders him.

After Turpin dies, Todd discovers Johanna hiding in the trunk and, not recognizing her, prepares to kill her, only to be interrupted by Mrs. Lovett's screams. He leaves Johanna with a warning to forget his face and races to the bakehouse to find Mrs. Lovett about to dispose of a corpse on the ground. As Mrs. Lovett opens the oven door and light is shed on the face of the beggar woman, Todd recognizes her as his wife, Lucy, who he believed to be dead. Lovett reveals that Lucy survived her suicide attempt, but the poison drove her mad. Mrs. Lovett tries to persuade Todd of her love for him. Todd calms her down and begins to waltz with her, claiming that he loves her too and that "Life is for the Alive". Suddenly he throws her into the oven. Mrs. Lovett screams as Sweeney Todd closes the furnace door and watches her burn to death. Sweeney Todd then returns to Lucy's side, holding her in his arms. Toby emerges from the sewer, and picks up a razor Sweeney left lying on the ground. Todd tilts his head back, and Toby slits his throat with the razor.

Johnny Depp ... Sweeney Todd
Helena Bonham Carter ... Mrs. Lovett
Alan Rickman ... Judge Turpin
Timothy Spall ... Beadle Bamford
Sacha Baron Cohen ... Signor Adolfo Pirelli
Jamie Campbell Bower ... Anthony Hope
Laura Michelle Kelly ... Lucy Barker
Jayne Wisener ... Johanna
Ed Sanders ... Toby
Gracie May ... Baby Johanna
Ava May ... Baby Johanna
Gabriella Freeman ... Baby Johanna

Johnny Depp plays Benjamin Barker / Sweeney Todd, a barber who had been deported to the Australian Penal Colonies for fifteen years for a crime he didn't commit. Returning to London, he slits the throats of innocent customers in madness after the loss of his wife and daughter. Depp first learned of Sweeney Todd in 2000, when he was given an original cast recording of the musical by Burton. Depp was not a fan of the musical genre, but liked the musical. Depp asked rhetorically when he signed on, "How many chances do you get at a musical about a serial killer?" The actor cited Peter Lorre in Mad Love (1935) as his influence, and practiced the songs while filming Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End. Depp recorded demo tapes of himself in West Hollywood, working with an old friend and music producer Bruce Witkin to shape his own vocals without a voice coach. Much of Sweeney's dialogue was cut from the musical. Depp said, "We focused on the dangerous and unsettling idea of stillness, that he doesn't look many people in the eye, or say much", an idea Burton compared to Boris Karloff and other actors in classic horror films, where "his eyes and the music [...] tell the story."

While Depp had formed a band as an adult, he was unsure of whether he could sustain Stephen Sondheim's lyrics.[1] He liked that they were "a lot of half-steps... kind of go G to A-flat to A to B-flat. It's super, ultra complicated; these notes that shouldn't work together at times." Producer Richard Zanuck admitted it was "millions of dollars committed on an assumption. [But] we all said to one another, 'Johnny is a smart guy. He would never put himself in this position if he didn't think he could do it.'" Sondheim felt, "I figured he'd have a light baritone... I love him as an actor, and always have. Put those things together, I didn't hesitate for one second." Sondheim explained to Depp the performance would be more about acting than singing. Depp chose a punk rock approach to his performance, citing inspiration from Anthony Newley and Iggy Pop, the latter whom he called a "very aggressive crooner. Especially in the early stuff, there's something about [Sweeney's] attack that's haunting."

Helena Bonham Carter as Nellie Lovett, Todd's partner-in-crime who bakes the corpses of victims into pies. Bonham Carter, a fan of the musical since she was age thirteen, wanted to prove to herself that being cast would not be an act of nepotism on partner Burton's part. The actress was trained to sing by Ian Adam, and Sondheim watched around twelve of her audition tapes, which he approved of: "Even in a recording studio, wearing a schmatte, she is as beautiful and sexy as they come." In total she spent three months on singing lessons while pregnant during the production of the film.[5] The character is often singing while she moves and behaves, a behavior which Bonham Carter dubbed "the Olympics of multi-tasking". In addition she practised pie baking for many hours while singing her lyrics at the same time, commenting "you had to do it to syncopated Sondheim rhythm and sing at the same time."

Alan Rickman as Judge Turpin, a wicked and corrupt judge who locked away Todd and raped his wife. He adopted Todd's daughter, Johanna, as his "ward", on whom he spies voyeuristically through a hole in her wall. He intends to marry her, although she is no older than 15 or so. Rickman said, "The music is sort of constant, and it slips in and out of speech and song. Because it's in real rooms and real spaces, the move from speaking into singing becomes much more organic." Therefore, he was quite surprised to see himself singing on screen.

* All music and lyrics written by Stephen Sondheim.

1. "Opening Title"
2. "No Place Like London" - Johnny Depp & Jamie Campbell Bower
3. "The Worst Pies In London" - Helena Bonham Carter
4. "Poor Thing" - Helena Bonham Carter & Johnny Depp
5. "My Friends" - Johnny Depp & Helena Bonham Carter
6. "Green Finch and Linnett Bird" - Jayne Wisener
7. "Alms! Alms!" - Laura Michelle Kelly & Jamie Campbell Bower
8. "Johanna" - Jamie Campbell Bower
9. "Pirelli's Miracle Elixir" - Edward Sanders, Johnny Depp & Helena Bonham Carter
10. "The Contest" - Sacha Baron Cohen, Johnny Depp & Timothy Spall
11. "Wait" - Helena Bonham Carter & Johnny Depp
12. "Ladies in Their Sensitivities" - Timothy Spall & Alan Rickman
13. "Pretty Women" - Johnny Depp & Alan Rickman -
14. "Epiphany" - Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter & Jamie Campbell Bower
15. "A Little Priest" - Helena Bonham Carter & Johnny Depp
16. "Johanna" - Johnny Depp, Laura Michelle Kelly & Jamie Campbell Bower
17. "God, That's Good!" - Helena Bonham Carter & Edward Sanders
18. "By The Sea" - Helena Bonham Carter & Johnny Depp
19. "Not While I'm Around" - Edward Sanders & Helena Bonham Carter
20. "Final Scene" - Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Alan Rickman, Laura Michelle Kelly, Jamie Campbell Bower & Jayne Wisener

Antony

I have sailed the world
beheld its wonders
from the dardinells,
to the mountains of Peru,
But there's no place like London!
I feel home again...
I could hear the city bells ring...
Whatever would I do?
No there's...

Sweeney Todd

No place like London...

Antony (spoken)

Mr. Todd, sir

Sweeney Todd

You are young...
Life has been kind to you...
You will learn.
(Spoken) 'Tis here we go our seperate ways.
Farewell Antony.
I will not soon forget the good ship bountiful, nor the young man who saved my life.

Antony

(Spoken) There's no cause to thank me for that, sir.
It would have been a poor Christian indeed who would have spotted you
pinching and tossing on that raft and not given the alarm.

Sweeney Todd

(Spoken)
There's many a Christian would've done just that and not lost a winks sleep over it either.

Beggar Woman

(Sung) Alms, alms for a miserable woman, on a miserable chilly mornin'!
Thank ya, sir, thank ya...
How would ya like a little muff,
dear a little jig-jig,
a little bounce around the bush!
Wouldn't ya like to push me parsley?
It looks to me, dear, that you've got plenty there to push!
Alms, alms for a pitiful woman...
what's got wandering wits?
Hey! DOn't I know you, mister?

Sweeney Todd

Must you glare at me, woman?
Off with you!
Off I say!

Beggar Woman

Then how would ya like to split me muff?
Mister, we'll go jig-jig!
A little...

Sweeney Todd

Off I said!
To the devil with you!

Beggar Woman

Alms, alms for a pitiful woman!

Antony (Spoken)

Pardon me, sir, but there's no need to fear the likes of her,
she's only a half-crazed beggar woman...
London's full of them.

Sweeney Todd (spoken)

I beg your indulgance, boy, my mind is far from easy.
For in the once familiar streets I feel a chill of ghostly shadows everywhere.
Forgive me.

Antony (spoken)

There is nothing to forgive.

Sweeney Todd (spoken)

Farewell, Antony.

Antony (spoken)

Mr. Todd, before we part...

Sweeney Todd (spoken)

What is it?

Antony (spoken)

I have honored my promise never to question you.
Whatever brought you to that sorry shipwreck is your affair and yet, over
many weeks of our voyage home,
I've come to think of you as a friend,
and if trouble lies ahead for you in London, if you
need any help...or money.

Sweeney Todd (spoken)

No!
(sung)
There's a whole in the world like a great black pit
and the vermin of the world inhabit it
and its morals aren't worth what a pin can spit
and it goes by the name of London.
At the top of the hole sit the previlaged few
Making mock of the vermin in the lonely zoo
turning beauty to filth and greed...
I too have sailed the world and seen its wonders,
for the cruelty of men is as wonderous as Peru
but there's no place like London!
--
There was a barber and his wife
and she was beautiful...
a foolish barber and his wife.
She was his reason for his life...
and she was beautiful, and she was virtuous.
And he was nieve.
There was another man who saw
that she was beautiful...
A biased vulture of the law
who, with a gesture of his claw
removed the barber from his plate!
And there was nothing but to wait!
And she would fall!
So soft!
So young!
So lost and oh so beautiful!

Antony (spoken)

The lady, sir, did she, sir, come?

Sweeney Todd (sung)

Ah, that was many years ago...
I doubt if anyone would know.
(spoken)
Now leave me, Antony.
There is somewhere I must go,
something i must find out.
Now, and alone.

Antony (spoken)

But surely we will meet again before I am off to Plymouth?

Sweeney Todd (spoken)

If you want you may well find me around Fleet Street. I wouldn't wander.
(sung)
There's a hole in the world like a great black pit
and it's filled with people who are filled with shit!
And the vermin of the world inhabit it!

Most historians seem to simply ignore any story of the "real" Sweeney Todd.

However there are several investigations into Todd's life that leave quite a horrid and realistic aftertaste. Peter Haining is a British journalist and author who has written about the life of a real Sweeney Todd based on the killer's connection to the true living conditions of London over 100 years ago, and generally on his own research. Haining had said the reports he found about Todd's real existence were based on The Newgate Calendar. He even pointed out that this document was more factual compared to the penny dreadfuls during Todd's time. Haining ended up publishing 3 books on the basic facts (mainly biographical ones) of Sweeney Todd.

Haining's report on Sweeney Todd starts with how the character was born in 1756 into a poor family that worked in the silk industry. Haining would go on to explain Todd's inner rage about those who had it better than him as well as about his filthy and impoverished surroundings. When Todd was a child, it was said he'd visit the Tower of London and this was mainly because the instruments of torture there amused him.

When Todd's parents suddenly abandoned him during the dead winter of 1768, he was forced into apprenticeship as a cutler. Having had this experience as a cutler, Todd then had extensive knowledge about sharp instruments. He eventually ended up in prison for petty theft and when he came out, he became a mobile barber and then owner of his own barbershop at Fleet Street by 1785.

It was then that Todd shifted from stealing as a boy to murdering his clients. Reports were said to have described valuable items of alleged victims that were peculiarly found at Todd's residence (which was on top of his own shop). It is described that Todd's main method was to murder his victims, strip them of their valuables and send their chopped body parts to his lover/accomplice so she could use them in her pies which she sold to the public through her pie shop. This was a stomach twisting method but nevertheless an effective one for Todd in covering up evidence.

Haining goes on to talk of an overwhelming stench rising in a church that held underground catacombs, where Todd had supposedly kept his victim's bones. He was eventually arrested by the Bow Street Runners when they discovered more than a hundred corpses piled to the ceiling in those catacombs in 1802...