Last Friday (August 12), sources told Variety that Disney studios had stabled The Lone Ranger starring Johnny Depp due to mounting production costs.The surprising news comes after the project has been fully cast and a fall shooting schedule planned.
The film already had a release date scheduled December 21, 2012 – going toe-to-toe with the next Hobbit film, and Brad Pitt’s World War Z – when Disney announced the production would be delayed due to budget concerns.
While the studio wants to keeps costs under $200 million, other sources reveal there were also concerns over the lacklustre response to another Western-genre film, Cowboys & Aliens.
The Lone Ranger is a fictional masked Texas Ranger who, with his Native American companion Tonto, fights injustice in the American Old West. The character has become an enduring icon of American culture.
He first appeared in 1933 in a radio show that proved to be a huge hit, and spawned an equally popular television show that ran from 1949 to 1957, as well as comic books and movies.
Disney re-teamed Depp and Verbinski to recreate the success of their franchise Pirates of the Caribbean.
The film could end up at another studio if Disney chooses not to proceed. Filming is set for mid-October in Texas and New Mexico.