Despite the gore depicted in trailers aired on screens, the atmosphere was nothing short of festive as director Tim Burton, actor Johnny Depp and producer Richard Zanuck entered the ballroom of the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Tokyo's Roppongi district last week to promote "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street." Reporters were told that no personal questions were allowed to be asked, and, heeding the warning, the scribes were on their best behavior, barring this query aimed at Depp: "If you had the chance to eat your own flesh, what would it taste like?" The actor (who lives in Paris) replied: "Oh, I would think . . . frog's legs. I would recommend deep-fried."

You've collaborated with Johnny Depp many times before. Was there anything new that you discovered about him during the making of this movie?

Burton: "This is the first time I've heard him sing and dance at close quarters. I've just never seen him do anything like this before. But then Johnny has always invented himself anew with every movie. He is never the same. He's one of those rare actors you hardly ever see anymore, who can convey emotion and sadness just by looking out the window. He transforms himself every time, and this makes everyone working on the set feel very excited. They could feel like they're making an art form and not a business project."