Depp prevails with ‘The Lone Ranger’
Director Gore Verbinski and actor Johnny Depp. – AFP picLOS ANGELES, Oct 15 – After successfully teaming up for the animated western comedy Rango, Gore Verbinski and Johnny Depp are taking on the Old West genre again for a live action version of the The Lone Ranger.
Based on the 1950s American television show, the story revolves around a masked Texas lawman who fights crime on his white horse Silver with his Native American assistant Tonto.
The film has set a May 31, 2013 release date, according to The Hollywood Reporter, delayed after budget negotiations. The original budget of US$250 million (RM781.25 million) was cut, reducing hefty multi-million-dollar fees and other costs, such as some special effects.
It will costar Armie Hammer (The Social Network and upcoming Snow White) and Tom Wilkinson (The Ghost Writer) with producer Jerry Bruckheimer (Pirates of the Caribbean).
“I think I have interesting plans for the character, and I think the film itself could be entertaining and very funny,” Depp told MTV. “But also I like the idea of having the opportunity to make fun of the idea of the Indian as a sidekick... the Native American has always been a second-class, third-class, fourth-class citizen, and I don’t see Tonto that way at all. So it’s an opportunity for me to salute Native Americans.”
Shooting will begin in February in New Mexico.
Depp’s next film, The Rum Diary, releases October 28 in North America and in November in the UK, France, Singapore, Sweden and other countries, followed by a roll-out worldwide.
The actor will also appear in Scorsese’s fantasy Hugo (November 23), crime action film 21 Jump Street (March 16, 2012) and Tim Burton’s vampire mystery Dark Shadows (May 11, 2011). – AFP
