Gore Verbinski will not be directing Pirates of the Caribbean 4

Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy director Gore Verbinski has decided not to get back into the directors chair for Pirates of the Caribbean 4 according to Variety.

Verbinski has informed Disney and producer Jerry Bruckheimer that he will not helm a fourth installment that’s expected to set sail in 2010 with Johnny Depp back as Captain Jack Sparrow.

Sequel is in development but not yet greenlit. It’s unknown how Verbinski’s ankling will affect the pic’s schedule.

“I had a fantastic time bringing ‘Pirates’ to life, and I am eternally grateful to Jerry, Johnny and the rest of the creative and production team,” Verbinski said. “I’m looking forward to all of us crossing paths again in the future.”

This is understandable considering Gore has spent 6 years of his life surrounded by pirates. While the exotic filming locations will no doubt have been tempting, most directors prefer to use their creative talents on different things. Variety say that Gore will instead be focusing on the movie adaptation of Bioshock, which he has been attached to direct since May last year. Filming on that is expected to begin sometime in 2010, so Gore will not be escaping the sea entirely, as Bioshock mostly takes place under it (or in it if you want to be technical).

This obviously means Disney will be searching for a new director for Pirates 4, which won’t necessarily be a bad thing depending on who they get. Someone else guiding Captain Jack Sparrow on another adventure will be interesting, and some fans of the trilogy may welcome it. Screenwriters Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio will be back to write the script, so we shouldn’t expect anything too drastically different from what we saw in the trilogy.