Gore Verbinski, who's directed some of the biggest hits in Hollywood from Mousehunt to The Mexican (oh, kidding, also The Ring) will not direct the next Pirates of the Caribbean movie. He directed the first three, but now he's done. He wants to take time to sit down, have a glass of red wine, gather his creative thoughts, and do something artistic. Like directing Bioshock, a movie based on a videogame. One for us, one for you, Gore. [Variety] Meanwhile Larry Charles, the fellow behind Borat, Bruno, and Curb Your Enthusiasm, has settled on his next movie. It's called Winter's Discontent. And it's about old people fucking. So. [Variety]

The sexy hunk of undead flesh from Moonlight, Alex O'Loughlin, has landed the starring role in the next Jennifer Q. Lopez film. It's about artificial insemination and, one would assume, big butts. [Variety] Sexy glowing green hunk of space rocks Leah Remini, who whirs like a spaceship and can speak Venusian, has landed a role in the hilarious-sounding ABC comedy pilot Don't Try This at Home (like the warning thing from things!). It's about, get this wacky plot, marriage and relationships and having kids in the suburbia and stuff. I know it sounds really out there, but give it a chance. I mean, we need new ideas in these worrisome times. [THR]

Notoriously short actor Al Pacino will be playing notoriously short warmonger Napoleon in a new film to be directed by the guy who did The Painted Veil. I just want to see Pacino in the hat. That's all. [THR] Speaking of power-mad world leaders who will stop at nothing to slake their unslakable bloodthirst, Sony has picked up international distribution rights for the new documentary We the People: The Election of Barack Obama. The filmmaker, sadly, has been missing since he turned in a print of the polemic to his producers, six months ago. He's expected to be found in a ditch somewhere in Colombia, his head cut off. Because that's the kind of guy Obama is. Just awful. [THR]

According to Us, both Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony have been sighted lately without their wedding rings on, the Hollywood equivalent of wearing a novelty t-shirt that says, "DON'T ASK ME ABOUT MY FAILING MARRIAGE" in block type. So who's to blame, and who's ready to offer her friend a comforting e-meter to cry to?

Lopez — who once commanded $15 million per film — "blames Marc for her career going down the tubes," says a mutual pal, adding that she's bitter about the failure of their 2006 drama, El Cantante, which only grossed $7.5 million. (Her 2002 flick Maid in Manhattan earned over $94 million.)

"Jennifer looked around and said, 'This is my life now? I'm a Long Island housewife?'" a pal says. "She hates that everything she worked for went down the tubes."

Lopez isn't the only one with growing resentment toward her husband. Her best friend, Leah Remini, also can't stand him.

"It if was up to her, Leah would just break them up today," a pal says.

Duly noted, "Leah Remini's pal"! We had wondered why Lopez hadn't worked in film since 2006, and now we know who to send flowers to was responsible. However, we question the logic behind fleeing one controlling home for a Scientology-approved safe house. J-Lo, you may think you want your acting career back, but is a recurring guest arc on My Name is Earl really the best comeback you can muster?

• EXCLUSIVE: Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony's Marriage at "Breaking Point" [Us]

"Scientologists don't believe in shrinks. Would you ever call on Scientology if you were having [emotional] problems again?" I ask.

"I do know a lot about Scientology. And I know about the practices. I know all about what the technology is and all that kind of stuff. It's very helpful. So in a sense, yeah, you do call on it."

"Do you consider yourself a Scientologist?"

"No."

"If you were, would you be open about it?"

"Yeah. I wouldn't have a problem saying it because I know what it is. I have no problems with it and it really actually bothers me that people have such a negative feeling towards it."

"That it is too exotic? Too cultish?"

"Just negative feelings."

"Would you consider schooling Emme and Max in a Scientology school?" I ask.

"Yeah. I wouldn't mind. Not at all. Because I know that the technologies that they have are very helpful… It's all about communication. That's the thing I really don't like about talking about this. I do know so many great people who do do it, who choose it as a lifestyle and really follow it and it is their religion…I just wish that people wouldn't judge it without knowing what it is."

Sounds like someone's been comparing notes with Will Smith! Though Lopez still seems to clam up somewhat when asked about Scientology, we'd wager that she's merely saving the good stuff for her TLC reality show. Why blow your wad in an interview on Tina Brown's headache-inducing HuffPo competitor when you could spin a season-long arc (culminating in a finale featuring Jenna Elfman, Nancy Cartwright, and Erika Christensen in a girls' spa day/niacin purification ritual) out of the same material?

[Photo Credit: AP]

• Behind the Glow [The Daily Beast]

Nicole Richie was back to her old uber-thin self just two weeks after Harlow graced us with her presence earlier this year, and Jamie Pressly openly admitted to losing 42 pounds in 12 weeks by "only eating cabbage soup." The rest?

After having Moses, the current nudie pic exhibitionist says she makes sure all those pounds which initially "horrified" her remain at bay due to her after-hours habit of downing red wine and passing out in the garden. Who has time to eat when you're unconscious? Hubbard Formula aficionado Leah Remini claims to have lost a whopping 80 pounds in only six weeks after ordering something eerily called the 1st Personal Diet. Remini told TV Guide, "It's determined by the metabolic rate of your blood, and then they send you a diet on your e-mail." Why hasn't anyone informed Oprah of her computer's flesh-zapping knowledge?

Jennifer Lopez made a public appearance looking just like J. Lo circa Diddy only a month after popping those expensive twins out, and reportedly managed the vanishing act by shelling out $50k on a home gym, not to mention hiring a team of trainers, nutritionists and Baby Weight Loss experts to presumably make sure she never once stopped exercising. Finally, Gwen Stefani candidly told Elle that she was utterly obsessed with getting her figure back after little Kingston arrived. The only celebrity to go ahead and admit that the ways stars do it is just a bit horrifying, Stefani said she was so adamant about the process that she was still exercising two weeks before giving birth. And cried about it. Live and learn.

[Photo Credit: X17]

• OH BABY! JESSICA ALBA SHOWS OFF HER FABULOUS POST-PREGNANCY FIGURE [Daily Mail]

On a segment from the Rachael Ray show a few weeks back, a visibly exhausted and seemingly brainwashed Remini told viewers in the most melancholy of tones how addicted her daughter Sophia is to "the baba." And if self-professed Scientologist Remini is following the religion's doctrines correctly, this means she is obeying founder L. Ron Hubbard's instructions to never breastfeed and, instead, feed babies a mixture consisting of barley water, homogenized milk, and oodles of sugar-heavy honey. But this is hardly the scary part. You see, Hubbard, who we must note claimed he had visited Heaven several times during his life, also claimed he discovered this baby formula after magically traveling back in time to hang out in ancient Rome: "I picked it up in Roman days and have used it since...Modern hospital formulas and patent mixes for babies are not just bad, they are criminal." While we're pretty sure that keeping one's baby on a proper nutritional diet is the furthest thing from criminal, we're equally sure that keeping the little ones sucking down Hubbard's formula well past their third birthday isn't doing any favors for the child's social development skills. As they say, this one is developing...

[Photo Credit: INF]

• SURI CRUISE AND HER BOTTLE: IS SHE TOO OLD? [Us]
• SCIENTOLOGY'S RECIPE FOR BABY MALNUTRITION AND, QUITE POSSIBLY, INFANT BOTULISM [Chello.nl]
• Is Leah Remini A Pushover Mom? [Rachael Ray]