June 13 2006

In Paramount News: First, Tim Burton has signed on to helm “Sweeney Todd” for the Melrose Ave. studio. Based on Stephen Sondheim’s Broadway musical and adapted for the big screen by John Logan with a musical libretto by Hugh Wheeler, the thriller is about a demoniacal barber in London’s Fleet Street who slits the throats of his customers/victims, while his partner-in-crime Mrs. Lovett cuts them up and uses them as pie-filling. Johnny Depp is in talks to star. Sam Mendes is producing.

Second, Eminem (a.k.a. Marshall Bruce Mathers III) has signed on to star in and to produce a big screen, contempo version of the TV series “Have Gun – Will Travel” also for Paramount. The action drama will follow the same path as the CBS original, but instead of taking place in the Western frontier, the adaptation will probably be set in Detroit’s mean streets and have the rapper/thespian be a do-gooder bounty hunter. Jimmy Iovine, Paul Rosenberg, Stuart Parr and Gene Kirkwood are also producing. 6/13

Matthew Ryan Hoge has been hired by Universal Pictures to adapt the short story “The Moment They Were Waiting For” by Ken Kalfus. The horror story is set into motion by a murderer’s execution, which causes people to get visions of their own horrible and inevitable demise. David Heyman is producing. Donna Langley and Kristin Lowe are shepherding for the studio. 6/13

Paul McGuigan has been hired by The Weinstein Co. to direct “Four Knights,” a dark comedy set in Medieval England. Paul Webb is scripting the project based on his own play “Four Knights in Knaresboro,” which is about the titular noble retainers who were sent by King Henry II to broker a truce with his rival Thomas Beckett (the Archbishop of Canterbury). Unfortunately, the bumbling quartet instead accidentally killed the powerful religious leader and ended up going on the run. Laurence Bowen (Feelgood Fiction) is producing, while Colin Vaines is executive producing. Rhodri Thomas is shepherding for TWC. 6/13