Oceans are now battlefields, Russell Crowe isn't getting any younger, and "Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World" fans are still waiting on news of another movie in the seafaring series. That lengthy wait, however, might finally be getting shorter. Directed by the great Peter Weir, the 2003 original has had audiences craving another sequel for over two decades now. Unfortunately, the historical epic had the grave misfortune of debuting only a few weeks before "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" sucked up all the moviegoing oxygen and swept the subsequent Academy Awards ... dooming the masterful (pun certainly intended) blockbuster to an uncertain fate.

Now, that long-awaited follow up might just be closer to happening than ever before -- presuming the concerned parties can figure out one key missing piece. Although Crowe once valiantly mounted an online campaign to usher in a sequel starring himself,...