hi ho Silver, The Lone Ranger rides on....

[Temis the Vorta]

Since the other thread is being cruelly ignored, here's a fresh one that may be more to your tastes.

The Lone Ranger is being made. Depp did take a salary cut to get it going.

According to Variety, part of the savings came from cut CGI sequences, but much of the money came from 20% salary cuts agreed to by Depp, director Gore Verbinski and producer Jerry Bruckheimer.

And it's going to be done his way, not unsurprisingly:

For Depp, the film meant enough to him that he was willing to take the cut, as he often does with his passion projects. As he's often said, he wants to recalibrate the relationship between the title character -- to be played by Armie Hammer -- and Tonto, his traditional Native American sidekick, whom he will portray.

"I like the character. I think I have interesting plans for the character, and I think the film itself could be entertaining and very funny," he recently told MTV. "But also I like the idea of having the opportunity to make fun of the idea of the Indian as a sidekick -- which has always been [the case] throughout the history of Hollywood, 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."

That approach seems necessary anway, given the age difference - Depp is old enough to be Hammer's father. The plausible way to do this is for The Lone Ranger to be Luke to Tonto's Obi-Wan, a greenhorn who could get himself in trouble if not for his more experienced mentor. If that's what they have in mind, it's an interesting way to revitalize the story and I'm looking forward to it.

[RJDiogenes]

That's certainly an interesting approach, and not inconsistent with Lone Ranger mythology. Tonto saved his life, leading to him adopting the Lone Ranger identity; mentoring could certainly be a part of the process and relationship.

[JustAFriend]

A) They needed CGI for a western??

2) Clayton Moore is the only Lone Ranger.

[cardinal biggles]

I'm glad to hear they were able to get the film moving again; of Depp's various upcoming projects, I was looking forward to The Lone Ranger a lot more than Dark Shadows or yet another Pirates sequel.

Depp's use of the word "humor" worries me a bit, though. While I don't want to see The Lone Ranger all dark and gritty like Nolan's Bat-films, neither do I want to see this end up a clusterfuck along the lines of The Green Hornet.

[sojourner]

^Which is ironic in that the Green Hornet is a descendant of the Lone Ranger in certain continuities.

[Praetor_Shinzon]

yeah, i certainly hope it doesn't turn out to be another The Green Hornet.

[Greg Cox]

So, a friend and I were debating this lately: is it "heigh-ho, Silver" or "hi-yo, Silver"?

I believe we concluded that, actually, it was originally "Hi-yo, Silver" but pretty much everyone in the world remembers it incorrectly as "hi-ho, Silver."

[Temis the Vorta]

I refuse to debate the etymological correctness of "hi ho Silver."

And I furthermore refuse to look up "etymological" to see whether it even makes sense in that sentence.

[davejames]

I don't have a problem with making Tonto more prominent and an equal partner to the Lone Ranger, but it's sounding more and more like this is going to be "The Tonto story", which I can't say interests me all that much.

Of course with Verbinski involved I can't help but think this is just going to be another huge, overblown Pirates-style mess anyway...

[Greg Cox]

Temis the Bleeding Aorta wrote:

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I refuse to debate the etymological correctness of "hi ho Silver."

But then what else is the internet for?

[Temis the Vorta]

But then what else is the internet for?

This.

[Captaindemotion]

Jerry Bruckheimer talks the cuts and the release date. The train scene remains intact, supernatural coyotes (were-coyotes?) have been cut.

http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=83332

[scotpens]

sojourner wrote:

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Which is ironic in that the Green Hornet is a descendant of the Lone Ranger in certain continuities.

As I understand it, the established canon is this: Capt. William Reid led a posse of Texas Rangers (including his brother John) that was ambushed by the Hole-in-the-Wall Gang, or the Gang that Couldn't Shoot Straight, or whoever. All were killed except John Reid, who was wounded and left for dead. After being found and nursed back to health by Tonto, he assumed the Lone Ranger identity. Britt Reid, aka the Green Hornet, is Capt. William Reid's grandson, making him the Lone Ranger's grandnephew.

The timeline fits, with roughly two generations between the 1880s and the 1930s.

Captaindemotion wrote:

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. . . The train scene remains intact, supernatural coyotes (were-coyotes?) have been cut.

Good grief! What's next -- The Lone Ranger, Vampire Hunter?

[RJDiogenes]

Great. I find out about the supernatural coyotes only to learn they have been cut.

[Temis the Vorta]

RJDiogenes wrote:

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Great. I find out about the supernatural coyotes only to learn they have been cut.

Life is like that. You never appreciate the supernatural coyotes until they're gone.