'Big Fish' 4th film for DeVito, Burton

NEW YORK, Jan. 5 (UPI) -- Danny DeVito recently stumped a room full of film reporters when he challenged them to name the four movies he made with director Tim Burton.

"Here's a quiz for you. Three films, you can tell me what they are: 'Batman Returns,' 'Mars Attacks!' and 'Big Fish,'" DeVito said. "But there's one other film that we did together that's a secret. That you have to think about."

When the journalists couldn't come up with a fourth, DeVito triumphantly declared, "He played a part in 'Hoffa,'" the 1992 biopic DeVito starred in with Jack Nicholson.

But the filmmaker exclaimed, "I don't know what the hell he's talking about!" when asked if he could name his fourth collaboration with DeVito.

Reminded of his small part in "Hoffa," Burton sighed, "I played a corpse."

"How could I forget? That was my finest achievement. I loved playing a corpse. It was the most fun I'd had in a long, long time," added the "Sleepy Hollow" and "Edward Scissorhands" filmmaker.

"Big Fish," starring DeVito, Billy Crudup, Albert Finney, Jessica Lange and Ewan McGregor is currently playing in select cities. It opens nationwide Jan. 9.