Oh wow, this press release is great and very detailed, thanks Zahir!  I'm surprised that we get so much detail (even though it's still just an overview) so far in advance.  Jonny Lee Miller- I hadn't heard a peep about him being in contention for this, but it's great that the role is cast.  I'm not too familiar with Jonny Lee and went to IMDb to check his roles, and now I realize where I know him best from-- this past season of Dexter. [Edited to add:  Zahir said this, clear as day!  Somehow I read the whole rest of the post without catching that, duh!  )  He played a charismatic (but dangerous) motivational speaker, and he was one of the high points of a rather so-so season, so I'm sure he'll bring wonderful things to Roger.

So Barnabas is going to be a playboy, eh?  I can't wait  

I'm not much of a twitterer, but I can see that I should start to follow some of these folks, because the exchanges are interesting! Thanks for posting, MB.

For what it's worth, regarding that last exchange, that person who wanted to "visit and say hello" raises a huge red flag for me, as someone who might try stalking the studio hoping for a sighting.  This does happen, I'm afraid.  If I were that person I would probably deny that Johnny would be there in the foreseeable future, too.  Not to say he's definitely filming yet, but just don't take that reply as gospel.  There were Pirates premieres in both Munich and Tokyo after Cannes, and Johnny did not attend- it's possible he had some other commitments that we don't know about but I tend to think that DS was the reason he bowed out.

I found this one on one of the international fan sites- you can see more detail in the wolf's face.

I wonder if that's the actual prop he'll use in the film? Time will tell...

That would be my guess.  He's a prop lover, and he's producing, so nobody is going to deny him permission to take it with him     It doesn't look to me like a replica from the series- in fact, hard to tell at this size, but the wolf's head doesn't look silver to me  (Maybe he won't need to come across any werewolves in this film, lol).  There is some carving or decoration a few inches down the straight portion, so we can see if that will be in the film version. 

^^^yes, it's over already- less than 40 min. for the press conference, and no DS content    But there really weren't many questions asked, because of the language barrier and the time for translations, etc.

Couple of very quick things--

 re. the Quick News     

I think Johnny did mention once that he was in a sauna when he was dreaming up the Jack Sparrow character, because he was thinking of the guy getting a bit of heat stroke on a ship on the seas, hence the wobbly walk.  I don't know if it's a general thing, though    I think tabloids like that tend to take an offhanded comment from years ago and build a whole story on it.

I think Johnny is in Moscow tomorrow, then London on Thurs, then Cannes which I believe is on Sat.  After that there is a Tokyo premiere, but I am pretty sure I read somewhere that Johnny will not be able to attend that one, so once again, this jibes perfectly with filming starting next week.  At long last!    

Actually, since the project was announced, Johnny has been attached to play Tonto, not the Lone Ranger.  Of course, he could still be a governess, and knowing Johnny's past track record it's not impossible    Armie Hammer (David Selby's clients in The Social Network- the Winklevoss twins) is in talks to play the masked man, but it's not solid yet.

Yes, Oprah (and Larry King) are probably part of Pirates promos, and there are also scheduled press junkets next week, and several premieres the week after that.   You might be able to work filming around one or two things, but not all these events.

Photo from Oprah (which will air May 5)- note the shave and a haircut:

OPRAH PRESENTS THE LAST-EVER HARPO HOOKUPS