Wait no longer–the teaser trailer for CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY is available for viewing at Yahoo Movies. You can watch it HERE.

You can also watch the trailer tonight, December 9th, on EXTRA and E! News Daily. It will no doubt be turning up soon on other entertainment news programs as well. The Zone thanks Nicole Jacks for posting the trailer on the News & Views forum, and abigail, scratchthedragon, and Kazren for information on TV listings.

And for those who want a REALLY close look at Johnny’s Willy Wonka, evelyne has posted screencaps from the trailer on the News & Views forum–see the “e news caps” thread. A big Zone bouquet of lilies and roses to you, evelyne! Thanks very much for sharing your work with the Zone.

THE LIBERTINE’s long hunt for a U.S. distributor may be over. Today’s HOLLYWOOD REPORTER, in a brief article on Tracey Jacobs, mentions that in addition to her most famous client, Johnny Depp, Ms. Jacobs also “signed filmmaker Laurence Dunmore and helped him sell his film THE LIBERTINE to Miramax.” That’s certainly worded as if it’s a done deal, even though there has never been any official announcement. Let’s hope, if Miramax has the distribution rights, it keeps its word and actually distributes the film to more than two theaters. Thanks to vanessa30 for posting the Hollywood Reporter story.

The Zone congratulates Tracey Jacobs, named #67 on the Hollywood Reporter’s “Power 100” list, a ranking of the most powerful women in Hollywood. When he accepted the Strasberg Award from the Actor’s Fund in October, Johnny thanked Tracey for “sticking with him” for seventeen years, and said the award should really be hers.

Deppheads, set your TIVOs and VCRs–E! News Live announced on their broadcast tonight (Wednesday, December 8th) that they will air an exclusive sneak peek of Johnny Depp in CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY on their broadcast tomorrow night, Thursday December 9th. Check your local schedule for broadcast times–it should be 7 pm in the Eastern U.S. time zone, 6 pm Central U.S. The Zone thanks abigail and scratchthedragon for sharing the good news.

Is it the ambience, the food, or the wine list? Johnny Depp returned to Cipriani’s restaurant in the upscale London neighborhood of Mayfair a few days ago, despite having been caught there by paparazzi on November 29th, when he was having dinner with his PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN director, Gore Verbinski, and producer Jerry Bruckheimer. This time, Johnny’s dinner companion was his CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY director and longtime friend Tim Burton. The thumbnail to the left shows the gifted pair being approached by autograph-seekers. You can see a larger version of the photograph HERE. More photographs appear on the Zone’s Recent Pics forum–many thanks again to sugakookies78 and to Bonnie for posting them. Devoted Johnny-watchers will notice that Johnny’s moustache, soul patch, and goatee are reappearing; as joni remarked on the forum, “He’s going to turn into Capt’n Jack before our very eyes!”

Journalist N. P. Thompson conducted a recent interview with FINDING NEVERLAND’s director, Marc Forster. Forster discusses how he came to direct the film, and what it was like to work with screen legends Julie Christie and Dustin Hoffman and (of course) Johnny Depp. This is the interview that contains Johnny’s often-quoted remark about Julie Christie, as reported by Marc Forster: “There’s a scene late in the film where Johnny Depp and Julie walk down these arches to discuss the future of the children, and she briefs him on how she sees it. As we’re shooting this, Johnny comes to me and says, ‘Marc, I can’t believe what I have to tell you. This woman is 60 years old, and I still feel like kissing her!'”

Forster also calls attention to Johnny’s remarkable ability to listen on screen. “Most people can’t listen in real life, let alone in front of a camera,” observes the journalist Thompson, to which Marc Forster replies: “Johnny is the opposite. The less dialogue you give him, the happier he feels. We went through the script and cut dialogue, until I said, ‘No, you need to say this line!’ He loves to listen; he doesn’t have a problem with that, and he loved those boys, and the kids were so breathtaking. I loved watching his rapport with them. They had such synergy and chemistry together that it just made everybody bloom.”

The Zone thanks Emma for sharing the Thompson interview. You can read the full article HERE. Emma also posted an interview with Forster conducted by Paul Salfen of the Dallas Music Guide. Forster discusses why he wanted Johnny to play J. M. Barrie and how he feels about the Oscar buzz surrounding FINDING NEVERLAND: “I feel that if [people] come in the movie not knowing too much or having less expectations sometimes they walk away saying, ‘Oh my God, I loved the film!’ But if they come in with high expectations, it’s much harder to please them. In the sense the [Entertainment Weekly] cover helps the movie because it makes it more accessible to people and brings the word out there, but at the same time I hope people will not be disappointed.” Forster also discusses the differences between Johnny’s acting rhythm and Dustin Hoffman’s. According to Forster, “Johnny’s best work is between take three and take five, that’s when he peaks and Dustin peaks between eight and twenty five, somewhere in between there. So it was hard for Johnny.” To read the whole interview, see Emma’s post on the News & Views forum.

A five-page article on Johnny Depp, called “Hollywood’s Outsider Comes in for a Chat,” appears in the latest OK Magazine (Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston are on the cover). The interview, reported in question-and-answer style, was conducted by Martyn Palmer, who wrote a wonderful profile of Johnny for the London Times a few weeks ago.

Since writers don’t have control over the titles of their articles, Palmer’s editor at OK is responsible for the tabloidish subheadline, “The Maverick FINDING NEVERLAND Star Says He’s Just a Big Kid and Confesses to a Crush on Kate Winslet.” Many news outlets have reprinted the “crush” comment as if Johnny actually said that, but the transcript shows he said nothing of the kind. Palmer asks Johnny, “Was Kate Winslet a kindred spirit in this film?” Here is Johnny’s reply, in full:

“Oh yeah, she’s amazing. We hadn’t worked together before. She is so cool. There’s no pretence, no weirdness, no diva. She is a great girl first, a great mum–which is impressive and made me love her even more–and obviously she is a great actress. Years ago I saw HEAVENLY CREATURES and I thought she was terrific in it–but I didn’t see the boat movie! It’s so great not to have to lie about something (laughs), do you know what I mean? You do these things sometimes and it’s like: ‘Oh she was terrific! Next question!’ I’m happy to say in this case that I can gush on and on about Kate.”

The interview also contains many insights into Johnny’s attitude toward J.M. Barrie, his child co-stars, his own childhood, and PETER PAN. You can read the entire interview on the Zone’s News & Views forum. The Zone thanks Janine for transcribing the article, Endora for posting scans of the photos, and SavvyAngelUK for breaking the news.

Deppheads rejoiced when film critic Richard Roeper predicted that Johnny Depp’s performance as J. M. Barrie would bring him this year’s Oscar for Best Actor. Roeper made his prediction during an appearance on THE TONIGHT SHOW with Jay Leno on Thursday, December 2nd. Roeper’s colleague, Roger Ebert, disagreed and felt that Jamie Foxx’s portrayal of Ray Charles was more likely to win because it was a showier role: “I don’t really think Johnny Depp will win for Best Actor because it is not the kind of role that wins,” Ebert argued. He finds Barrie “quiet, sweet, introverted, [and]thoughtful,” whereas Academy voters have been known to be impressed by what one reviewer refers to as the “pass a kidney stone” style of acting–a preference amply demonstrated by last year’s Best Actor competition. Roeper, however, feels that last year’s near-miss may work in Johnny’s favor this year, since voters will remember his Captain Jack as well as his Barrie: “I think he [Johnny] has a really good chance of winning,” Roeper said,”not just for this role, but because he has a lot of great goodwill going.” One can always hope! Thanks to Still-Rather-Timid for posting a notice about Ebert and Roeper’s appearance on THE TONIGHT SHOW, and to ACK for typing up the transcript of their remarks.

The first major awards of the 2004 season were announced on Wednesday, December 1st, by the New-York based National Board of Review, and top honors went to FINDING NEVERLAND, voted Best Picture of the Year! Following their usual pattern of spreading the awards around to as many pictures as possible, the National Board of Review chose Jamie Foxx in RAY and Annette Bening in BEING JULIA as Best Actor and Actress, while supporting awards went to Thomas Haden Church in SIDEWAYS and Laura Linney in KINSEY. Michael Mann won Best Director for COLLATERAL, and the cast of Mike Nichols’ CLOSER nabbed the award for Best Acting by an Ensemble. To read the full story by Gregg Kilday in the HOLLYWOOD REPORTER, click HERE.

The ZONE congratulates everyone who worked on FINDING NEVERLAND–given how long this movie lingered unseen, it is a special joy to see its excellence rewarded. All Depp fans are of course disappointed that Johnny’s magnificent portrayal of J. M. Barrie did not receive the Best Actor award; we know that his work, and Kate Winslet’s luminous Sylvia and Freddie Highmore’s hearbreaking Peter, and the sensitive direction of Marc Forster, made FINDING NEVERLAND unforgettable. Thanks to the many Zoners who posted the Best Picture news, including Juno, Emilia, and axelsgirl.

The National Board of Review will present its awards on January 11th at the Tavern on the Green in New York City. This is the day after the Critic’s Choice awards will be held in Los Angeles. No word yet on which members of the FINDING NEVERLAND team will attend which events.