Eccentric American filmmaker Tim Burton will be named president of this year’s Cannes Film Festival jury, QMI Agency has learned. The announcement will be made Tuesday in Paris.

Burton, a 51-year-old Californian with a Gothic bent and a head of unkempt black hair, will add spice to one of the world’s most prestigious festival assignments. The jury president sets the dynamic for the jury which hands out the Cannes awards, which can clinch the sale of a film or add millions to its box office, especially in Europe.

Cannes Film Festival directors Gilles Jacob and Thierry Fremaux chose Burton, capitalizing on the renewed notoriety he will get when his latest film, Alice in Wonderland, is released March 5. The Cannes festival runs May 12-23 and Burton will be in a post-publicity mode and primed for action..

“After spending my early life watching triple features and 48-hour horror movie marathons, I’m finally ready for this,” Burton said in a statement to be released Tuesday. “It’s a great honour and I look forward, with my fellow jurors, to watching some great films from around the world. When you think of Cannes you think of world cinema. And, as films have always been like dreams to me, this is a dream come true.”

Growing up in Burbank, Burton focused on art, design and monster movies instead of traditional school studies. As a young adult, he made his 1982 film debut in 1982 with a brilliant B&W short, the animated Vincent. It featured narration from his idol, horror legend Vincent Price.

While most of his films since have been live action, animation has remained a part of his career, most notably by producing The Nightmare Before Christmas, directing Corpse Bride and co-producing Shane Acker’s fantasy 9.

Jacob, the Cannes president, said in a statement to be released Tuesday that choosing Burton is a breakthrough step — and a way to liven up Cannes’ beachfront avenue, La Croisette.

“It’s the first time an artist whose origins are in animation will preside over the jury of the Festival de Cannes. A filmmaker with a heart of gold and silver hands, Tim Burton is first and foremost a poet. He’s a magician of visual delights who turns the screen into a faery wonder. We hope his sweet madness and gothic humour will pervade the Croisette, bringing Christmas to all. Christmas and Halloween!”

Among Burton’s films are Pee-wee Big Adventure, Beetlejuice, Batman, Ed Wood, Sleepy Hollow, Planet of the Apes, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. Johnny Depp has starred in seven Burton films. Close behind, Burton’s romantic partner, Helena Bonham Carter, has starred in six.