The 2007 movie that fired Christopher Lee before his first day on set

The 2007 movie that fired Christopher Lee before he shot his scenes: 'I never got to film them' With over 250 movies under his belt, Christopher Lee shouldn't have been too distraught at failing to add another to his sprawling collection, but no matter who you are and how long you've been around, being hired for a role and then fired from it before you've even made it to the set is a kick in the teeth. That's not the way to treat a legend, especially when the sonorous veteran would have been reuniting with a director and co-star that he knew very well, but having made a point of casting Lee, the decision was subsequently made to give him the boot before a single frame of footage had been shot. It's enough to make you wonder why the production bothered in the first place, especially when he'd been recruited to play a brand-new character in an adaptation of a renowned stage production, but when all was said and done, Tim Burton's Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street didn't even get as far as leaving the prolific veteran on the cutting room floor. Having battled all sorts of nefarious forces in all sorts of genre flicks dating back decades, not to mention his late-stage reinvention as the frontman of a heavy metal band, a gothic, murderous, and blood-splattered musical felt like it would have been right up Lee's street, and he clearly agreed. When the Johnny Depp-fronted musical announced its roster, the Dracula favourite was revealed to be playing a 'Gentleman Ghost', a minor figure who'd narrate or briefly appear in certain sequences. As the film got closer to the first day of shooting, though, it was decided that his services were no longer required. Even though he'd worked with Burton on Sleepy Hollow, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and Corpse Bride, and they'd reunite again for Alice in Wonderland and Dark Shadows, the filmmaker clearly wasn't in the mood for playing favourites, leaving the man who's been killed onscreen more times than almost anyone else to lament the call. 'It would have been worse if I had done the scenes, but I never got to film them,' Lee explained, at least managing to put a positive spin on his disappointment. 'It's a shame, as the lyrics were wonderful, but these things happen.' He took it in his stride, but he can't have been too happy at the time. At that stage of his career, Lee was one of the most respected elder statesmen that cinema had to offer, which evidently wasn't enough to save him from the ignominy of being hired and fired before he'd even had the chance to step in front of the cameras.