The Lone Ranger remake shut down by Disney

[Dream]

Disney has shut down production of The Lone Ranger, its ambitious retelling of the classic western that was to star Johnny Depp.

Sources tell The Hollywood Reporter that the abrupt move to kill a project that was set to begin shooting in the fall comes amid clashes with producer Jerry Bruckheimer over the budget for the tentpole, which was scheduled to be released in December 2012. A Disney spokesman did not return calls.

Lone Ranger was heralded by Disney as a potential franchise starring the bankable Depp as Tonto and Armie Hammer as the Lone Ranger. Gore Verbinski, director of the first three Pirates of the Caribbean films, was set to helm.

The move is a direct blow to Bruckheimer, who has produced the four mega-hit Pirates films for Disney. It also raises questions about whether Depp will agree to reprise his starring role in another Pirates film, which is a priority for the studio.

The halt is all due to budgetary concerns, not creative differences, sources tell THR, who say the studio gave Verbinski a number but the director balked.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/johnny-depps-lone-ranger-shut-222777

I'm guessing the failure of Cowboy & Aliens probably killed off the western genre for a while. This is probably for the best. I never thought that The Lone Ranger needed a remake.

 

[Amaris]

This also means we're unlikely to see another Firefly movie.

 

[doubleohfive]

Disney has shut down production of The Lone Ranger, its ambitious retelling of the classic western that was to star Johnny Depp.

Sources tell The Hollywood Reporter that the abrupt move to kill a project that was set to begin shooting in the fall comes amid clashes with producer Jerry Bruckheimer over the budget for the tentpole, which was scheduled to be released in December 2012. A Disney spokesman did not return calls.

Lone Ranger was heralded by Disney as a potential franchise starring the bankable Depp as Tonto and Armie Hammer as the Lone Ranger. Gore Verbinski, director of the first three Pirates of the Caribbean films, was set to helm.

The move is a direct blow to Bruckheimer, who has produced the four mega-hit Pirates films for Disney. It also raises questions about whether Depp will agree to reprise his starring role in another Pirates film, which is a priority for the studio.

The halt is all due to budgetary concerns, not creative differences, sources tell THR, who say the studio gave Verbinski a number but the director balked.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/johnny-depps-lone-ranger-shut-222777

I'm guessing the failure of Cowboy & Aliens probably killed off the western genre for a while. This is probably for the best. I never thought that The Lone Ranger needed a remake.

A couple things: Really, Depp is going to be the deciding factor. He's proven time and again he can bring audiences to the theaters, even for shitty Pirate movies (I'm looking at you, "At World's End.")

Beyond that, I can believe that budget issues could be at play for something like this. That said, if your guess is right, it's all the more unfortunate as "Cowboys & Aliens" was quite fun and while still trotting out every western trope and cliche in the filmmaking book, got the "Western" element down pretty well I thought. (I certainly enjoyed that part of it better than the alien crap.)

 

[Greg Cox]

Disney has shut down production of The Lone Ranger, its ambitious retelling of the classic western that was to star Johnny Depp.

Sources tell The Hollywood Reporter that the abrupt move to kill a project that was set to begin shooting in the fall comes amid clashes with producer Jerry Bruckheimer over the budget for the tentpole, which was scheduled to be released in December 2012. A Disney spokesman did not return calls.

Lone Ranger was heralded by Disney as a potential franchise starring the bankable Depp as Tonto and Armie Hammer as the Lone Ranger. Gore Verbinski, director of the first three Pirates of the Caribbean films, was set to helm.

The move is a direct blow to Bruckheimer, who has produced the four mega-hit Pirates films for Disney. It also raises questions about whether Depp will agree to reprise his starring role in another Pirates film, which is a priority for the studio.

The halt is all due to budgetary concerns, not creative differences, sources tell THR, who say the studio gave Verbinski a number but the director balked.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/johnny-depps-lone-ranger-shut-222777

I'm guessing the failure of Cowboy & Aliens probably killed off the western genre for a while. This is probably for the best. I never thought that The Lone Ranger needed a remake.

A couple things: Really, Depp is going to be the deciding factor. He's proven time and again he can bring audiences to the theaters, even for shitty Pirate movies (I'm looking at you, "At World's End.")

Exactly. I mean, pirate movies were pure box-office poison before Jack Sparrow. ("Cutthroat Island," anyone?) So you'd think the Depp Factor was overcome any squeamishness about westerns . . . .

So is "Cowboys & Aliens" perceived as a failure? Too bad. It looked like fun.

 

[Lonemagpie]

Meh, I'm more looking forward to Django Unchained anyhow.

 

[Captain Craig]

I'm surprised by this move. One would think the 'Depp factor' would overcome any obstacles to Lone Ranger.
Is it valid speculation about Cowboys and Aliens though? The piece is strictly talking about budget fights.

So is "Cowboys & Aliens" perceived as a failure? Too bad. It looked like fun.

It's going down as a disappointment for sure, at least financially. Not quite as bad as Green Lantern but second worst underperformer of the summer it seems. They will probably finish close to each other but GL's budget is $40m more. Which if there is any validation to C&A impacting this outside the budget fight over Ranger it's shame.

 

[CaptainCanada]

Johnny Depp playing Tonto was a dumb idea, anyway.

 

[Out Of My Vulcan Mind]

It's going down as a disappointment for sure, at least financially.

It looks like Cowboys & Aliens won't even make it to $100 million domestic.

 

[HotRod]

This also means we're unlikely to see another Firefly movie.

Sadly, I don't think there was ever much of a chance of that happening anyways....

 

[the G-man]

I think "Cowboys and Aliens" was the final straw in a series of films that made Disney nervous.

First off, except for "Pirates," Bruckheimer's had a bad run at the box office lately (Prince of Persia, the Sorcerer's Apprentice, etc.).

Then you had the commercial failures of Green Lantern and Green Hornet and the under-performance of X-men.

Combine all that, and Disney got nervous about sinking $250 million into a "cowboy superhero" movie.

Yeah, it has Depp, but Tonto is no Jack Sparrow or Mad Hatter, and Depp made it clear he planned to play the role super-straight.

In fact, Depp probably had to play Tonto straight or Disney would be seen as racist. Furthermore, they might have still been seen that way, since as racist, insofar as no one (except Depp himself) seems to think of him as "Native American."

 

[Out Of My Vulcan Mind]

$200-250 million for a Lone Ranger film is nuts. I'd be interested to read the screenplay to see what visuals they cooked up that could possibly have called for that budget level.

 

[CaptainCanada]

What on Earth would cost 200-250 million for a Lone Ranger movie? Okay, budget 20 million or so for Depp's salary, but otherwise you've got, what, some horses, a bunch of desert, maybe a few little towns?

 

[Nerys Myk]

It's the Lone Ranger......IN SPACE!!!!!!!!

 

[JoeZhang]

What on Earth would cost 200-250 million for a Lone Ranger movie? Okay, budget 20 million or so for Depp's salary, but otherwise you've got, what, some horses, a bunch of desert, maybe a few little towns?

Because of animal rights concerns, they have to build and use robot horses.

 

[Christopher]

What on Earth would cost 200-250 million for a Lone Ranger movie? Okay, budget 20 million or so for Depp's salary, but otherwise you've got, what, some horses, a bunch of desert, maybe a few little towns?

Look at Guy Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes. You wouldn't think a Holmes movie would require a lot of elaborate action and FX, but this one did. It's just the idiom of the modern summer blockbuster -- there have to be lots of expensive and complicated action set pieces, hundreds of stunt performers, things blowing up, elaborate real and virtual sets, visual effects enhancing the action even if it's just fistfights, etc.

Plus, as you say, there are the overinflated salaries for stars, producers, director, etc. -- these days there's a pretty high percentage of a Hollywood film's budget that doesn't make it onto the screen.

 

[Obiwanshinobi]

So Depp appearing as Tonto at the D23 Expo last year was all for naught?

 

[Samurai8472]

What on Earth would cost 200-250 million for a Lone Ranger movie? Okay, budget 20 million or so for Depp's salary, but otherwise you've got, what, some horses, a bunch of desert, maybe a few little towns?

I'm sure those towns would have been elaborate. Not to mention all the costumes, props and horses.


http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=81034

UPDATE: Variety is now reporting that Disney still plans to move forward on the project but is in the process of bringing down costs in order to do so. Whether this will result in a delay of production remains to be seen, but check back for updates as they become available.

It's still moving on. Just have to control the budget.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

I'm guessing the failure of Cowboy & Aliens probably killed off the western genre for a while.

Eh, there's no reason The Lone Ranger needed to be a flop like that. What killed Cowboys & Aliens is that the advance publicity made it look like such an overly serious drag. Casting Daniel Craig as the lead was the nail in the coffin. But The Lone Ranger had a couple of guys who could have pulled of a serio-comic tone very well, and it didn't have a clashing sci fi element to overcome, either.

As usual, Hollywood is clueless about why one movie works and the other doesn't. If they'd been able to hang onto Robert Downey Jr in the lead, Cowboys & Aliens could have done respectable box office, because even if the script had been dead serious, the lead actor would have solved that little problem for them.

UPDATE: Variety is now reporting that Disney still plans to move forward on the project but is in the process of bringing down costs in order to do so. Whether this will result in a delay of production remains to be seen, but check back for updates as they become available.

It's still moving on. Just have to control the budget.

Cool! They shouldn't worry about Depp's casting being "racist." It's not like it's the first time in Hollywood history that a white guy has played a Native American character and at least Depp is part Cherokee or something (and looks it - it's the cheekbones).

Honestly, how many Americans even know what a Native America is supposed to look like anymore? And forget the global audience, they wouldn't have the first clue, or care. If the movie says Depp looks just like Tonto, then he does. What actor would look more correct and be able to pull off the role, much less sell tickets from Indonesia to Argentina? Wes Studi?

 

[SG-17]

So is "Cowboys & Aliens" perceived as a failure? Too bad. It looked like fun.

It is fun. But a lack of interest in the western genre and some overly negative reviews killed its box office performance.

Hopefully blu-ray and DVD sales do well for it.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

It's the Lone Ranger......IN SPACE!!!!!!!!

Patience, patience - that's the sequel.

Don't blame Westerns for Cowboys & Alien's failure. The previews were absolutely dreadful and exposed how badly the lead role had been miscast. That movie needed a comic flair, and Craig doesn't do comic. Robert Downey Jr in the lead role would have made the movie a success. Depp in the lead role would have broken international BO records.

Quality or logic in movies doesn't actually matter, as the PoTC opus has amply proven. Just show a lot of crazy, comic action and put the right name on the marquee. If The Lone Ranger is the PoTC approach, but in the Wild West, and how hard can that be?, they'll have another hit franchise on their grubby little hands.

Even better, Armie Hammer is a good enough comic actor in his own right that he will be more of an asset than Orlando Bloom (remember him?) and he won't get summarily dumped from the franchise. And don't think for a moment just because he's playing the title character that he's safe. Remember, logic doesn't count. The audience will be there to see Depp's crazy antics, and most of them will have no more idea of who "the Lone Ranger" was supposed to be, or that he has an existence previous to the movie, than they know what a Native American is supposed to look like.