Deadline has reported that Gore Verbinski’s Lone Ranger has been set for a Febuary 6 start of production. The film, which has had a questionable history thus far, seems to have found its feet again, with the main cast reprising their roles after a large conflict over budget.
Johnny Depp was on board since day one and he’ll get his wish, which is to play The Lone Ranger’s sidekick, Tonto. Gore Verbinski will be at the helm and Armie Hammer will still be The Lone Ranger. Finally, Ruth Wilson, best known from the T.V. show Luther and her fantastic depiction of Jane Eyre in the 2006 mini series, will still be taking on the female lead.
The production has been a rocky one so far, with the studio cutting down the budget from $250 million to $215 million. Personally, when you’re dealing with $200 million plus films, I don’t really understand why there was so much drama over $35 million, especially when Depp will surely be taking home much more than that anyways, not to mention the back end.
At the end of the day though, the only thing that matters is that this project will get made, with Depp and Verbinski. While there is no release date set thus far, I’m thrilled to see the film going into production and I’m hoping things go smoothly from here on out.
