LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Paramount Pictures Chairman Brad Grey has decided to exchange one big-budget Tim Burton movie project for another.

Grey has sent "Believe It or Not," based on exploits of adventurer and oddities collector Robert Ripley, back into development while Stacey Snider, chief of Paramount's DreamWorks studio, is putting "Sweeney Todd" on the fast track with Burton at the helm.

DreamWorks will now need to assemble and cast that movie, which is being adapted by John Logan ("The Aviator") from the Stephen Sondheim Broadway musical. The stage production of "Sweeney Todd" just won John Doyle the Tony Award on Sunday night for best director of a musical.

Burton already is talking with actor Johnny Depp about taking the lead role in the feature film version as the Demon Barber of Fleet Street, Paramount sources said.

Burton and producers Richard Zanuck, Sean Daniel and Jim Jacks had been fighting the battle of the budget bulge on "Believe," starring Jim Carrey.

But Grey refused to give the project a green light for production until the ambitious project fell into the $150 million range, co-president of production Brad Weston confirmed.

Burton, whose previous credits include "Edward Scissorhands," "Batman" and "Big Fish," already had scouted locations in China and devoted months to pre-production in London for "Believe." He is returning from London to meet with Carrey.

Grey made the decision to rework the script and visual effects sequences with the budget in mind, Weston said.

"In a world where we wanted to do more work on the script, this seemed to make more sense," he said.

"Believe" marks the second Carrey project to fall apart in recent months. He also had been slated to star in Jay Roach's "Used Guys" with Ben Stiller for 20th Century Fox.

Paramount executives insist that "Believe" will go forward in another year.

"We love this project and look forward to making it with Tim and Jim -- just later than originally planned," Paramount production president Gail Berman said.

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter