Gore Verbinski To Leave Pirates Of The Caribbean 4? Robert Zemeckis To Direct Mars Needs Moms!

Johnny Depp has told Disney that he would be willing to return for a fourth Pirates of the Caribbean, but now word comes that director Gore Verbinski (who helmed the three previous films) is uninterested in helming the project.

"Gore's sick of pirates. If I wrote a scene that had to be shot on water, he'd run the other way.," said Mars Needs Moms! author Berkeley Breathed on a recent book tour appearance.

What does he know? Berkeley and Gore have been working together to adapt Breathed's 2003 children's book, Flawed Dogs: The Year End Leftovers at the Piddleton "Last Chance" Dog Pound into a Computer Animated movie for Disney.

The author also revealed that Back to the Future director Robert Zemeckis is attached to direct an adaptation of his latest book.

"Robert Zemeckis is doing the movie version of Mars Needs Moms! They're working on the script now," Breathed revealed.

Jim Hill speculates that this could be one of the very first projects to be produced by Disney's new ImageMovers Digital unit.

Here is the book description for Mars Needs Moms!:

Milo doesn't get it: What's the big deal about moms? They're just slavedriving broccoli bullies. Yet they are worshipped the world over! Perhaps even the galaxy over-because here come Martians and they're after one thing only: moms. Milo's mom in particular. Who better to drive them to soccer practice and to pizza parties? That's quite a long way to come for a mom-could it be that Milo has been overlooking something special?

From Pulitzer Prizeâ€"winning comic strip creator of Bloom County and bestselling author Berkeley Breathed comes a funny, poignant book about how the unique love that binds our families can be overlooked in the rush and tumble of everyday lives . . . especially those of disgruntled little boys.