First the good news: The rumors that you've hearing are true. Johnny Depp actually has told the folk at Walt Disney Studios that he'd be willing to reprise the role of Capt. Jack Sparrow. Which is why the Mouse has already tentatively made plans to shoot "Pirates 4" in 2009. With the hope that this film could then be the studio's tent pole for the summer of 2009.
Now the bad news: When Johnny finally swaggers back in front of the camera, his longtime collaborator -- director Gore Verbinski (Who has helmed all three installments of Disney's "Pirates of the Caribbean" series to date: 2003's "Pirates of the Caribbean - The Curse of the Black Pearl
," 2006's "Pirates of the Caribbean - Dead Man's Chest
" and 2007's "At World's End") -- may not be there to say "Action !"
Gore Verbinski (in red) directing Johnny Depp during
the production of "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest"
Copyright 2006 Disney Enterprises, LLC / Jerry Bruckheimer Films
Why For? Because -- as author Berkeley Breathed explained this past Friday night on the first stop of his "Mars Needs Moms!
" book tour:
"Gore's sick of pirates. If I wrote a scene that had to be shot on water, he'd run the other way."
And Breathed? He's in a really good position to know Verbinski's mindset these days. Given that Berkeley & Gore are now working together to try & turn Breathed's 2003 children's book, "Flawed Dogs: The Year End Leftovers at the Piddleton "Last Chance" Dog Pound
" into a CG film for Walt Disney Pictures.
Copyright 2003 Berkeley Breathed / Little, Brown Young Readers
Berkeley views adapting "Flawed Dogs" for the big screen as something as a challenge. Given that ...
" ... There's only a hint of a story in the book. But all of the characters and settings that you need for a fun movie are there."
Mind you, Gore Verbinski isn't the only A-Lister that Breathed is working with these days. As he revealed at last Friday night's signing at Willow Books & Café in Acton, MA. :
"Robert Zemeckis is doing the movie version of 'Mars Needs Moms ! ' They're working on the script now."
Now what's interesting about "Mars Needs Moms !" is that this Breathed book was also optioned by the Mouse. Which means that the movie version of this children's story could be one of the very first projects to be produced by Disney's new ImageMovers Digital unit. You know? That state-of-the-art performance capture studio that Mickey's in the process of setting up for Zemeckis. Which would then be housed in an old airplane hanger on what used to be the Hamilton Air Force Base in Novato, CA.
Robert Zemeckis
Still -- given that he tried for years to get a movie version of his "Red Ranger Came Calling
" children's book produced (Only to have that project repeatedly fall apart because -- according to Hollywood conventional wisdom -- kids won't watch period pieces. Which are too expensive to shoot anyway) -- Berkeley knows better than to predict when "Flawed Dogs" and "Mars Needs Moms !" will turn up at a theater near you. For now, he's just enjoying working with Verbinski and Zemeckis. As well as spending time in Santa Barbara with his wife and two young children.
And then -- of course -- there's Opus. That neurotic penguin who's been the star of all three of Breathed's comic strips, "Bloom County
," "Outland
" and "Opus." Recently, there have been a number of newspaper stories about how Berkeley was supposedly making plans to kill off his signature character. Which the cartoonist now denies.
That said, Breathed has been toying with once again shutting down his Sunday strip. And one of the ways that he's considering staging Opus's exit is reportedly given his syndication syndicate absolute heart failure.
"The weekend after Bush leaves office, I'd like to run a strip where Opus is standing on an aircraft carrier with a big 'Mission Accomplished' banner behind him."
Which -- given some of the pokes that "Opus" has taken at our Commander in Chief over the past few years ...
Copyright 2004 Berkeley Breathed
... only seems appropriate.
Copyright 2006 Berkeley Breathed
Anyway ... If you yourself would like to hear what Berkeley has to say and/or get an autographed copy of his latest children's book, "Mars Needs Moms !," his book tour continues this week. Which this Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist still scheduled to make appearances at:
- Barnes & Noble at 91 Old Country Road in Carle Place, NY. Berkeley will be appearing in this store on Monday, May 7th starting at 6 p.m. For further information about this event, please call 516-741-9850.
- Anderson's Bookshop at 123 West Jefferson in Naperville, IL. Breathed will be appearing at this shop on Tuesday, May 8th starting at 6 p.m. For further information about this event, please call 630-355-2665.
- Third Place Books at 17171 Bothell Way in Lake Forest Park, WA. Berkeley will be appearing at this bookstore on Thursday, May 10th starting at 7 p.m. For further information about this event, please call 206-366-3333.
- Dutton's Brentwood Bookstore at 11975 San Vicente Blvd. in the center of Los Angeles' Brentwood district. Breathed will be appearing at this store on Friday, May 11th starting at 6:30 p.m. For further information about this event, please call 310-476-6263.
Berkeley Breathed
- Books, Inc. at 1344 Park Street in Alameda, CA. Berkeley will be appearing at this store on Saturday, May 12th starting at 11 a.m. For further information about this event, please call 510-522-2226.
- Kepler's at 1010 El Camino Real in Menlo Park, CA. Breathed will be appearing at this bookstore on Saturday, May 12th starting at 4 p.m. For further information about this event, please call 650-324-4321.
- Warwick's at 7812 Girard Avenue in La Jolla, CA. Berkeley will be appearing in this store on Sunday, May 13th at 2 p.m. For further information about this event, please call 858-454-0347.
Getting back to "Pirates of the Caribbean" now ... Should Gore Verbinski actually opt out of directing "Pirates 4" ... Well, that may cause some problems at the Breathed household. Given that (As Breathed explained in a recent interview with the A.V. Club) ...
"... My 4-year-old son retrieves a pirate pistol and sword and acts out the entire movie, shooting and stabbing everyone in the family, all of whom are amused except for Pickles the pit bull."
Here's hoping that Gore Verbinski uses "Flawed Dog" as a well deserved break from working on the "Pirates of the Caribbean" films. Rather than as an excuse to not direct "Pirates 4."
Your thoughts?
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