Sing with us kids: Gore-and-Joh-nny-sit-ing-on-a-set. F-i-l-m-m-a-k…. Oh, forget it. But the men who helped bring the world the first three instalments of the Pirates of the Caribbean series are indeed plotting to reunite, with Verbinski seriously looking into taking on Disney’s version of The Lone Ranger.

Depp, of course, has been loosely attached to play Tonto for a while now, even going so far as to make a special announcement at a Disney event to confirm he’ll play the Western hero’s faithful sidekick (and, despite some Native American lurking in his ancestry, inspire some negative commentating online about the way the character will be portrayed in the movie).

And while Verbinski chose not to work with the actor on the latest Pirates pic (that job is currently in the hands of Rob Marshall), the two have stayed both close friends and colleagues, collaborating on weird ‘toon tale Rango, which will arrive next year.

The Lone Ranger is still a ways off, though, even if it does entice Verbinski to wave the megaphone. Depp has Dark Shadows pencilled in with Tim Burton and he’s weighing plenty of other offers. Plus word on the Ranger has gone decidedly quiet since Mike Newell was rumoured to be directing and a new writer was announced. Perhaps Verbinski’s interest will put the spurs into Disney’s side and get things moving again.