I realize that, of course, not everyone pays attention to such things, but it was mentioned several months back that Burton/Depp had a remake of The Abominable Dr. Phibes on their plate, so the latest isn't all that much new. It's just that it's moved to the front of their cue and apparently past Depp's The Thin Man remake, which many expected to be his next. Not sure why that has been pushed back (perhaps madscntst does) - but then, as we well know with the development of DS, projects are often jockeyed around.
As Gothick said, though, Phibes has a number of Burton's favorite elements, so it's easy to see the attraction. Plus, Phibes already has multiple levels of quirkiness built into it, so its sensibility would seem like a natural for Burton and something he should be able to pull off well. Though, of course, only time will tell...