Jimbo, this sounds pretty normal. They can't draw up a realistic budget or schedule a shoot until they have a finished script. I'm very sure they want to do it right, and if that means more work needs to be done on the script, they really have no choice. A movie project like this is not simply a matter of contracting with a writer, the writer banging out a script, and the producers running with it to the studio. I think Burton and Depp have a very tricky situation on their hands--there are so many directions they could go with interpreting the base material, and so many of those directions could go way wrong. I'm just as impatient as the next guy, but I'm frankly relieved to hear that the delays appear to be due to trying to get it right.