Hollywood’s revival of The Lone Ranger just became even more star studded. According to the Hollywood Reporter recent Oscar nominee, and Harry Potter villain, Helena Bonham Carter, country star turned character actor Dwight Yoakam and recent Emmy nominee Barry Pepper have joined the cast of the update which already boasts Johnny Depp as Tonto and Armie Hammer as The Lone Ranger.
Directed by Gore Verbinski this new take on the cowboy legend will have Depp’s Tonto taking the lead role. After rescuing The Lone Ranger who was left for dead by Dwight Yoakam‘s gang of bad guys, the duo teams up to take down the gang and the corrupt railroad man played by Tom Willkinson. Helena Bonham Carter will play the owner of a brothel that caters to the good guys and the bad guys while Barry Pepper has been cast as a military officer.
Casting on The Lone Ranger has taken quite a while. Johnny Depp signed on for the role of Tonto in 2008, after reassuring Native American groups that he is of Native American lineage. Since then big names like Brad Pitt, George Clooney and Nicolas Cage were floated for the title role but never panned out. In April reports surfaced that Ryan Gosling was ready to sign on for the role but the deal never happened; Armie Hammer snagged the role in May of 2011.
Production on The Lone Ranger should begin before the end of this year after Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter finish work on the Tim Burton directed Dark Shadows. Armie Hammer meanwhile is finishing work on Clint Eastwood‘s J. Edgar, the biopic of the legendary former head of the FBI, J. Edgar Hoover, who will be played by Leonardo DiCaprio. The film is expected to be an Oscar contender when it arrives in theaters in December of this year.
The casting of Helena Bonham Carter, Dwight Yoakam and Barry Pepper in these pivotal supporting roles has put The Lone Ranger on the fast track. The Hollywood Reporter has production getting underway in October in Texas and New Mexico while IMBD has the film slated for release on December 21st, 2012.
