TMZ.com, best known for publishing celeb mug shots, has a spy report saying that Edgar Rice Burroughs’s John Carter of Mars may have landed back at Disney.

Our spies tell us that the estate of Edgar Rice Burroughs is in negotiations with Walt Disney Pictures to turn the eleven volume “John Carter of Mars” series of books into a motion picture franchise — some ninety years after it first became a best-seller.

It won’t be the first time Hollywood tries to do so. An attempt was made in 1970 to turn the massive, sprawling sci-fi epic into a film, and again in 2005.

Two years ago, Paramount hired Jon Favreau to direct it, and “The Mummy” producers Sean Daniel and Jim Jacks, to produce it. Even Harry Knowles, the founder of Ain’t It Cool News, came aboard to produce the venerable sci-fi series. The estate briefly negotiated with Fox and Walden Media to make the movie there, but that deal fell through, insiders tell TMZ.

Hm. Unmentioned in the item is the past involvement of Kerry Conran, Robert Rodriguez, John McTerinan and god knows who else. Plus, the movie was ALREADY at Disney for a long time. So who knows if the circle has been completed.

IF IT HAS, that might be good news, because then the Ted Elliott/Terry Rossio script might be resurrected. We know we gave them crap for PIRATES 2, but otherwise they are the only guys we would trust with the Virginian gentleman.

UPDATE: Ah, THR has official confirmation, along with this:

A representative of the Burroughs estate said the studio was acquiring the live-action rights for a possible tentpole franchise. However, sources at Disney believed “Mars” to be headed for animated adaptation.

Animation, live action ai yi yi. The idea of a CGI John Carter holds little savor for us but…well, let the saga continue.