TIM BURTON - TIM BURTON: DEPP'S SUCCESS 'CRACKS ME UP'

Director TIM BURTON finds JOHNNY DEPP's recent box office success amusing - because he's known how good he is for years.

The BATMAN movie-maker has long cast Depp in his quirky projects, and thinks his current status as PEOPLE magazine's Sexiest Man Alive is hilarious.

Burton says, "It cracks me up. It's as if he just arrived on planet Earth. I know where Johnny's been for the past two decades, but where have they been?

"I guess with good things it's a delayed thing, and Johnny's a good thing, but I guess he didn't fit into any of their categories until he got into a hit movie like PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN."

Depp is next to star as offbeat confectionary manufacturer WILLY WONKA in Burton's remake of the 1968 movie, but there isn't a start date for filming yet.

Burton adds, "I have no idea when we'll begin on Willy. It will all depend on the script. I won't be tied down to a release date ever again."