Filmmaker Tim Burton, seen in Cannes in 2006, will preside over the influential French film festival's jury this May. (Francois Mori/Associated Press)

Tim Burton, the offbeat filmmaker known for stylized, darkly comic movies such as Beetlejuice, Ed Wood, Edward Scissorhands and Sweeney Todd, has been selected to preside over the 2010 Cannes Film Festival jury.

In announcing the news, the French festival's president, Gilles Jacob, referenced Burton's distinctive filmmaking style, calling him "a magician of visual delights."

A filmmaker "with a heart of gold and silver hands, Tim Burton is first and foremost a poet," Jacob said in a statement. "We hope his sweet madness and gothic humour will pervade the Croisette [one of the main roads in Cannes and where the festival's main site is located]."

Burton started out in illustration and drawing, studying at the California Institute of the Arts and working for the Disney studio as an animator. After a handful of short films, produced with assistance from Disney, Burton made his feature-length debut with Pee-Wee's Big Adventure in 1985.

He followed with a series of hit films in a variety of genres: the 1988 comedy Beetlejuice, 1989's action blockbuster Batman, the 1990 dramatic comedy-fantasy Edward Scissorhands and 1993's animated The Nightmare Before Christmas.

'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.'—Tim Burton

Other Burton films include Mars Attacks, Planet of the Apes, Sleepy Hollow, Big Fish, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and The Corpse Bride.

His latest work, a brilliantly coloured 3-D adaptation of Alice in Wonderland starring two of the filmmaker's most frequent collaborators — actor Johnny Depp and Burton's wife, actress Helena Bonham Carter — is slated for North American release on March 5.

New York's Museum of Modern Art has also been hosting a vast, career retrospective of Burton's art and illustration since November. It continues through the end of April.

The American-born, U.K.-based filmmaker and visual artist described the Cannes appointment as a "dream come true" for a lifetime film buff.

"After spending my early life watching triple features and 48-hour horror movie marathons, I'm finally ready for this," the 51-year-old said.

"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."

The 63rd Cannes Film Festival takes place May 12-23.