Disney Can’t Afford THE LONE RANGER’s Silver Bullets

Now we’ll never get the press junket where Johnny Depp explains again and again that it’s okay for him to play Tonto because he once drove through an Indian reservation or something.

By Aug. 12, 2011

Disney has put the kibosh on The Lone Ranger, their massive 2012 tentpole from Gore Verbinski that would have starred Johnny Depp. The film was too expensive, it turns out - to the tune of 250 MILLION DOLLARS. How the hell is a Lone Ranger movie budgeted at that level? It’s utterly insane.

It’s not rare to see expensive movies get ganked in advance - The Lone Ranger was still some months out from shooting - but it is surprising that a film that reunited the original Pirates of the Caribben team of Verbinski, Depp and Jerry Bruckheimer would be taking the loss. Maybe this movie just has stinker written all over it and Disney didn’t feel like taking the chance.

Wouldn’t it be incredible if studios stopped throwing hundreds of millions of dollars at big, stupid movies and started spending responsibly on smaller, good and smart movies? That won’t happen, but we can dream, and we can pretend that Disney is leading the way.

And before you wonder how Johnny Depp will keep paying for that private island, it’s almost certain he had a play or pay deal, so he’s getting his check no matter what. Armie Hammer, who was the play the Lone Ranger, on the other hand…

via Deadline

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