A feature film adaptation of Sweeney Todd, jointly produced by Dreamworks and Warner Bros., was released on December 21, 2007. Tim Burton directed from a screenplay by John Logan. It stars Johnny Depp as Todd (Depp received an Oscar nomination and a Golden Globe award for his performance), Helena Bonham Carter as Mrs. Lovett, Alan Rickman as Judge Turpin, Sacha Baron Cohen as Signor Pirelli, Jamie Campbell Bower as Anthony Hope, Laura Michelle Kelly as The Beggar Woman, Jayne Wisener as Johanna, Ed Sanders as Tobias, and Timothy Spall as Beadle Bamford.



Todd's first appearance could have been in a British penny dreadful called The People's Periodical, in issue 7, dated November 21, 1846. The story in which he appeared was titled "The String of Pearls: A Romance," and was written by Thomas Peckett Prest,[6] who created several other gruesome villains. He tended to base his horror stories partly on truth, sometimes gaining inspiration from real crime reports in The Times.
There is also an earlier story, about an unnamed perruquier (hairdresser) assisted by a patissier (baker) in Paris that appeared in an edition of The Terrific Register, published in London in 1825.[7] It tells how two gentlemen stopped for a shave while on an important errand, and the first man, when done, went ahead with the errand while his friend remained behind. When he returned for his friend, he was told by the hairdresser that he had gone, but curiously left his pet dog waiting behind. This led, eventually, to the dog revealing that the man's corpse was hidden in the hairdresser's basement, which adjoined that of the baker's. There were also indications that this was not the first such crime the two had committed, for the baker had routinely been making pies from corpses. The story concludes with the claim that a monument was built over the site of the murders.
A similar cannibalist crime in Paris appears in Espill, a XV century satyrical poem by Catalan author Jaume Roig.
According to the English tale, Todd was tried at the Old Bailey and hanged at Tyburn in January 1802, in front of a large crowd. However, no record of the trial can be found in the Old Bailey sessions papers or the Newgate Calendar, nor are there any contemporary press reports either of the trial or of the hanging. Also, Tyburn was no longer used for hangings after the end of the 18th century. As early as 1878, a contributor to Notes and Queries noted this absence of authentic non-fictional sources. It had also been rumoured that Todd fled to Forres, Scotland where he died and was buried in the local cemetery.[8]
While it is disputed as to when the name "Sweeney Todd" first made an appearance, the conversion of the unsuspecting victims into meat pies was already urban legend in the early 19th Century. In Martin Chuzzlewit by Charles Dickens (published in 1844), Tom Pinch is "particularly anxious ... to have those streets pointed out to him which were appropriated to the slaughter of countrymen".
Peter Haining, while arguing for historical reality, does not offer verifiable specifics.[2] He claims, amongst other things, that Todd was loved by his mother whilst beaten and ignored by his father. His mother's affections were less than valuable to Todd. "I was fondled and kissed and called a pretty boy," he testified in court. "But later I used to wish I was strong enough to throttle her. What the devil did she bring me into this world for unless she had plenty of money to give me so that I might enjoy myself in it?"