Helena Bonham Carter will play the diabolical meat pie-maker Mrs. Lovett in Tim Burton's adaptation of Stephen Sondheim musical "Sweeney Todd" reports Variety.
Mrs. Lovett, a role originated onstage by Angela Lansbury, is a murderess who dispenses her victims' bodies in meat pies and becomes the amorous accomplice of the Demon Barber of Fleet Street (Johnny Depp).
In most stage productions, Mrs. Lovett has been about a decade older than the Demon Barber and is usually someone in her 50s; Carter and Depp are about the same age and in their early 40s.
Shooting begins in early next year for a late 2007 release, with Paramount distributing domestically for DreamWorks, and Warner Bros. handling international territories. The studio will not confirm or deny if Sacha Baron Cohen has landed the role of rival barber Signor Adolfo Pirelli.
