Mike Fleming at
Deadline is calling it an 'exclusive', and I
guess that is entirely accurate. He is the man after all breaking the news that
Gore Verbinski ('Pirates of the Caribbean' 1-3) is in talks to direct
Johnny Depp in Disney's forthcoming tentpole '
The Lone Ranger'. A movie where we should remind ourselves that Depp is pegged to play the Indian sidekick Tonto, and not actually the title character. It is a scoop of course, BUT, anyone who knows anything about the industry will know that Verbinski has been at the top of Disney's wanted list for 'Ranger' ever since the movie was first announced two years ago. In fact, we called it way back on
25.09.2008 when we said;
"don't be completely surprised if PIRATES helmer Gore Verbinski ends up with it, we know he is a huge Western fan (his favourite movie is THE GOOD, THE BAD & THE UGLY) and Disney know they can trust him". Well now the official announcement has finally come, we really aren't surprised at all. Disney see 'The Lone Ranger' as potentially being a 'Pirates' style, gigantic money-maker for their studio and their main priority in hiring a director was to find someone who A) Johnny Depp would be comfortable with, and B) Is a proven box office draw. Hiring the guy who made Disney over a billion dollars alongside Johnny Depp was a no brainer for producer
Jerry Bruckheimer. The trio are back;
Also unsurprisingly, the blueprint for 'Ranger' was birthed by 'POTC' writers
Ted Elliott and
Ted Rossio whose basic instructions were 'do that, again'.
Justin Haythe ('Revolutionary Road') has since fleshed out their ideas into a full screenplay. It is true that for a while Disney were looking at
Mike Newell (Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire') to direct 'Ranger', but once he dropped the ball with '
Prince of Persia', Bruckheimer and Verbinski quickly patched up the ill-feeling between them over his exit on 'Pirates 4' and they are happy families again. 'The Lone Ranger' gives Verbinski the chance to work on a new universe, freshen up his style in a different genre and hopefully re-capture the magic of 'Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl' with a whole new character. Previously,
George Clooney was briefly linked with playing the title character but has since dropped out (if he was ever seriously on board) - and we just wonder if Disney will be able to attract an A-lister to play the part after how much Depp overshadowed the cast of POTC back in the day with his supposedly 'sidekick' character. Timescale for this, we are guessing, might be a shooting start of early 2012. Depp is currently looked in for Tim Burton's '
Dark Shadows' next year, before starring in Emir Kusturica's "
Wild Roses, Tender Roses," and then a
"Pancho" Villa picture co-starring Salma Hayek. No matter how much money Disney chuck his way, we think this one still has a year or so of development.