There have been rumours for a while now that Depp would team up with director Tim Burton (yet again) to make the film, but now producer Graham King has pretty much confirmed to Sci Fi Wire that the film is going ahead: “"We're actually going to shoot that film next September/October with Tim Burton and Johnny. We've been working on the script a lot, even though Tim's working on Alice. We've been given a script. John August wrote the first screenplay. We're making some changes, but the film's going to be in production, as I say, September or October of next year."
August is a regular Burton collaborator, having worked on the scripts for Big Fish, The Corpse Bride, Charlie And The Chocolate Factory and the upcoming Frankenweenie.
