- MTV.com offers an article in which Tim Burton discusses Johnny and the upcoming Sweeney Todd film:

Maestro of the macabre Tim Burton is almost ready to begin rolling on “Sweeney Todd,” a bloody barber tale he envisions as a hard R-rated horror flick.

“You can’t really skimp on that stuff — it’s got to be what it is. It’s not going to be a G-rated movie, no,” he laughed. “It’s kind of like doing ‘The Sound of Music’ but with lots of blood, so I don’t know how that’s going to work out. We’ll see. I’m excited to try it.”

Burton’s also excited to unveil the vocal work of frequent leading man Johnny Depp, who’ll take on his first singing role in his 20-plus-year career.

“It’s going to be the [actors singing]. That’s important. It’s a movie, it’s not a Milli Vanilli record,” the “Nightmare Before Christmas” mastermind insisted.

So is Burton concerned about gambling his multimillion-dollar movie on a singing voice he’s never even heard?

“No. I go over to his house and we sing show tunes every night. It’s a ritual with us,” he laughed. “Johnny is great. … I’m always looking for some new kind of challenge, and this certainly is that. We are laughing about it already, and we haven’t even started yet.”

Another actor who’ll be exercising her vocal cords is Burton’s girlfriend, Helena Bonham Carter. But the director insisted — contrary to reports — that “Borat” star Sacha Baron Cohen is not on board.

“We don’t know that for sure yet,” he said of the chameleon-esque comedian. “We’re still in the early stages of talking to people.” …

- San Luis Obispo Tribune has an article about some fans who met Johnny and other POTC cast members after a day of filming at Guadalupe Dunes.

- PRNewswire.com reports Tom Thurman’s Buy the Ticket, Take the Ride: Hunter S. Thompson on Film was presented at the Hollywood Film Festival. The documentary, produced by STARZ, features Johnny Depp, Benicio Del Toro, Sean Penn, John Cusack, and Bill Murray, among others.