I don't really fault Sam Sarkar for his comments (or for SG saying casting news would be forthcoming) because that was before the news came out that Burton felt he needed more time with
Alice In Wonderland. The business with GK Films seems odd, however. But maybe they were simply hoping that even though Burton had expressed needing more time, he actually wouldn't?
It's also interesting that supposedly they had already rented studio space for the sets. I wonder if they began work on the sets and have simply extended the rental agreement (which could be a costly option)? Or if they held off and will rent the space again at a later time? Or maybe if they did begin work, they've simply put what they'd done in storage at this point?