Hi-yo silver and away! Yes, The Lone Ranger has finally kicked off production after a long and almost fatal delay.
As you may recall, the new Lone Ranger movie, which stars Armie Hammer (The Social Network) in the title role, Johnny Depp as Tonto, Jerry Bruckheimer producing and Goire Verbinski (who just won the Best Animated film Oscar for Rango) directing, came very close to getting shut down completely over budget woes.
Once everyone agreed to work for less money (Disney has always been notoriously cheap), and the budget came down some notches, it finally got the go ahead, and began production on February 28.
The Lone Ranger is currently scheduled for a May 31, 2012 release date, and Collider just ran a press release announcing the beginning of principal photography from Disney, which also comes with a brief plot synopsis.
The release promises the new Lone Ranger will be “a thrilling adventure infused with action and humor, in which the gamed masked hero is brought to life through new eyes.”
The release continues, “Native American spirit warrior Tonto recounts the untold tales that transformed John Reid [aka The Lone Ranger], a man of the law, into a legend of justice – taking the audience on a runaway train of epic surprises and humorous friction as the two unlikely heroes must learn to work together and fight against greed and corruption.”
The Lone Ranger screenplay was penned by Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio, who also gave us The Pirates of the Caribbean and Shrek, along with Eric Aronson and Justin Haythe.
In addition, the cast includes William Fichtner (Heat, Black Hawk Down), Barry Pepper (Saving Private Ryan), and Helena Bonham Carter (Fight Club, Alice in Wonderland). The Lone Ranger shoot is currently in New Mexico, and is also slated to film in Arizona, Utah and Colorado.
