Warner Brothers sees a broader range of appeal for "Sweeney Todd" -- but it means the Demon Barber might be seeing some cuts. Variety reports that Warners, DreamWorks and Paramount originally thought the film would have a limited appeal, and slated it for a small release prior to a January opening.  However, after seeing clips, the execs are liking what they see, enough to release the movie everywhere on December 21st.  There's buzz about the film being Johny Depp's breakout role.  (Pirate?  What pirate?)  It'll be the feel-good Christmas movie this year.

There's just one problem.

The Daily Mail reports what everyone who ever heard of "Sweeney Todd"-- except apparently whoever greenlit the project -- already knew: it's extremely violent and gory.  The subtitle is "The Demon Barber of Fleet Street."  Long, sharp razors.  Cannibalism.  Yeah.  So, Warner Brothers is pressuring director Tim Burton to trim it down in order to garenr a proper PG-13 rating and bring more butts into the seats.

An unnamed source informed the Daily Mail, "Tim's not happy that the studio is asking for so many cuts to the cutting, as it were.  The thing is, the studio really likes the film and they want to make it accessible to as big an audience as possible -- which means stemming the blood flow. But that's a bit difficult for a story involving a guy who gets high slitting throats."

(Additional source:  Daily Mail)