Johnny Depp, in full Captain Jack Sparrow regalia and holding a silver goblet, graces the cover of the new issue of Entertainment Weekly for their “2011 Preview . . . Your Guide to 2011’s Biggest Movies, TV, Music, and Books!” Clearly the EW editors see Pirates of the Caribbean 4: On Stranger Tides as the biggest coming attraction, and we don’t disagree. To see a larger version of the cover–issue date January 21, 2011–CLICK HERE.

In the preview article, EW looks at the sometimes-difficult process which brought On Stranger Tides into being, including the unexpected departure of then-Disney chairman Dick Cook and the concerns Johnny felt regarding the Pirates 4 script. “Things got very mathematical, very subplotty, on the last movie because there were a lot of things that needed to be resolved with the characters,” Johnny tells EW. “I wanted to make a film that was more like the first one, that was more character-driven.”

EW reports, “To help whip the yarn into shape, Depp attended a series of meetings in L.A. with the core Pirates team, including director Rob Marshall, who stepped in after Gore Verbinski left the series. ‘Johnny was instrumental in the design of the story,’ says [screenwriter Terry] Rossio. ‘I think an arbitration committee might give him a “story by” credit if he was willing to submit it.'”

The Zone thanks Theresa for breaking the news. You can read more about the Entertainment Weekly article and On Stranger Tides on the Zone’s News & Views forum.

Pirates of the Caribbean 4: On Stranger Tides will be released on May 20, 2011.