http://screenrant.com/lone-ranger-images-johnny-depp-tongo-navajo-nation-kofi-165690/ More onset pics. I see that reps from the Navajo Nation were happy to meet with the leads.
I just saw Armie in J Edgar (weird movie, just depressing really ) and he's a very good actor. Looking forward to TLR more than ever! TLR offers a "twist on the classic tropes and stereotypes of old west films," huh? I'm more certain than ever that Tonto will be a sage and sardonic mentor to the greenhorn Lone Ranger. That approach defuses all possible PC objections (except for those who insist on being offended, and there's no hope to mollify that sort.) The best thing about that is that it guarantees Depp can't default to one of his two tired schitcks: prissy weirdo or drunken lunatic. In a sense, he'd be playing the straight man this time around, and the Lone Ranger will be more the comedic character.
So... I just got to spend a day out on the set for the Lone Ranger, west of Albuquereque. I was asked to fill in for the day as a "specialized extra," in the role of a train engineer... While it was a VERY cool experience and I got to meet and chat (albeit VERY briefly) with Johnny Depp, it's not something I could see doing day in and day out. I got in about 6 am and went straight to costume/make up and then hit the set with the other members of the train crew, who were actually skilled engineering professionals. The engines being used for the movie during the Promentory Point scene were mock up replicas of the actual trains used, each backed up by a modern diesel engine for moving purposes. The scene we were filming takes place during the celebration of the railtracks coming together. I won't post spoilers about the scene itself.. It was a hot, windy day and there was a LOT of sitting around waiting for them to set up shots, reherse stunts and the like. Depp and Helena Bonham Carter were in and out of their trailers to film close ups and since I was part of the train crew, I got to be out there pretty much the whole time and didn't get herded in and out of the set with the other extras, which was very cool.. In between takes, I learned a LOT about trains and special effects.. They blew some stuff up and brought cranes in for some stunt wire work.. All in all, it was a very enlightening day, in regard to film making. If I get any screen time, it will be from a distance and probably only for a split second, but still.. How freakin' cool to be a part of it all..
Just small talk, really.. "Nice work today." "Thanks, you too." etc etc etc... It was a fun day, but next time, I hope I get called for something shooting in ABQ proper or in the mountains.. The desert setting was miserable! For those who will be seeing this, Cody, Tx and Promintory, UT were filmed next to each other on the same set. One town was on one street, and the other on another..
They're back up to $250 million. The boss got the boot, so it's free play until they hire the new one! For the record, I still predict: MONSTER HIT! Because you gotta respect a director who builds locomotives from scratch.
I still remember how Titanic ran up the budget and everyone predicted doom... Don't underestimate Johnny Depp's fanbase. Just give them some fun adventure, not some inane BS with vampires, and they will put their butts in seats. The POTC movies weren't great art by any stretch of the imagination, so the bar is not set high. Just out of curiosity, I checked the international BO for that ridiculous flop, Dark Shadows. Sure enough, it's made lots more money overseas as in America. I've seen that patten happen often with even the suckiest of movies. Even inane BS with vampires won't sink you for sure.
Interesting. John Carter made more money overseas, too. Not sure what to make of that, since JC looks infinitely better than DS (I'll find out this weekend). The Pirate movies were top-drawer adventures, but Lone Ranger shouldn't be that over-the-top. He's a mysterious adventurer in the Old West-- it's got to be more low-key and personal. "We can't let them get the deed to the ranch, Tonto."
^ The first Pirates movie was. The second...not so much. I didn't even bother seeing the third as part 2 was so bad. I still think that the first Zorro movie is the sort of tone and feel a Lone Ranger movie ought to be aiming for; personally, I'd cut out the whole supernatural elements.
All sorts of crap makes money overseas. As far as I can tell, the formula for Hollywood movie profits is based on whether they are good enough not to get totally savaged by word of mouth domestically + add a certain amount to the total depending on whether there's a big marquee name like Depp and how much shit gets blowed up real good, and there's the foreign box office. The bigger the name and the more shit gets blowed up, the more you add to the foreign take. Doesn't really give Hollywood much incentive to change their crap-mongering ways, does it? They were? The first one was inane and I heard they got worse from there, so didn't bother to check them out. But Hollywood certainly isn't making movies for the fussy likes of me! Nope, they should do the opposite. They have the big name in Depp, so what they need is to amp the supernatural elements, make things bigger, crazier and more blowed up. So even if Americans (once again) say, pfft, I'm not wasting my money on this horrendous garbage, they still stand to make out like bandits.
Explosions and other forms of visual spectacle translate. Wit and dramatic dialogue don't always translate. No one should assume the tastes of foreigners are intrinsically worse than those of the average US movie goer. Nor can you automatically attribute success overseas to the presence of a big name star, especially in a thread citing John Carter. Taylor Kitsch is not a big name star. In fact one of the many criticisms in the chorus attacking the film prior to release was Taylor Kitsch. The real importance of the overseas market hinges on how much of that revenue gets to the US moviemakers. That's a closely held secret. Also complicating the issue is the increasing importance of foreign financing, by people who are in a better position to tap foreign revenues. The classic Western is dead, and the efforts to revive it are pretty much limited to ghetto markets like the Christian DVD movie market. (I suspect a powerful overlap, but, no, I don't have figures available.) Casting Johnny Depp as the Fool and dragging in the supernatural obviously are not classic Western, though. Depp will get people into seats, which is what "star" means. Casting a white guy for Tonto seems so obtuse it's hard to believe the movie could be good, though, even if it's Depp they cast.