Playbill reports that Christopher Lee and a number of other characters have been cut from director Tim Burton’s upcoming Sweeney Todd adaptation, starring Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter.
DreamWorks has confirmed reports that the ghost characters including Lee’s “Gentleman Ghost,” as a previous release titled his role have been cut from the film.
The new “Gentleman Ghost” character raised many inquisitive eyebrows when Tim Burton’s film cast was announced, since the stage musical does not employ such a character.
Lee told London’s Telegraph: “It would have been worse if I had done the scenes, but I never got to film them. It’s a shame as the lyrics were wonderful, but these things happen.”
Sweeney Todd opens in limited theaters on December 21 and expands on January 11.
