Here’s a first look (albeit unofficial) of Johnny Depp in full garb and make-up as the title character in Sweeney Todd. And look at what’s attached to Depp’s belt — his character’s weapon of choice, the straight razor!

Filming began last month on the Tim Burton big-screen adaptation of the Stephen Sondheim Broadway musical thriller, but production was halted earlier this month when Depp took a leave to be with his 4-year-old daughter Lily-Rose, who had fallen ill. The star returned to filming yesterday.

Sweeney Todd also stars Helena Bonham Carter, Alan Rickman, Sacha Baron Cohen, and Christopher Lee, who are reportedly all doing their own singing from Sondheim’s music and lyrics. The movie is scheduled to open in theaters this December*.

*[Updated 3/29/07] Sweeney Todd will open on Dec. 21, 2007, in a limited domestic run and goes nationwide on Jan. 11, 2008, reports Variety.

Photo source: PerezHilton.com

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In other Johnny Depp news, MTV interviewed Sin City director Robert Rodriquez, who wants to cast Depp in Sin City 3.

Rodriquez, who directed Depp in Once Upon A Time In Mexico, seemed confident that the Oscar-nominated actor would take the role of “Wallace” from the Sin City: Hell and Back graphic novel by Frank Miller. The director said that Depp had been interested in appearing in the first Sin City movie, but couldn’t due to a scheduling conflict.

The director said another one of his frequent collaborators could join the third installment: Antonio Banderas.

Sin City 2, based on Miller’s A Dame to Kill For, is scheduled to begin filming this June with a 2008 release date.

Grindhouse, the latest offering from Rodriquez and Quentin Tarantino, hits theaters April 6; Rodriquez will make a full-length direct-to-DVD spin-off from a Grindhouse fake trailer segment called Machete.