Disney’s The Lone Ranger, their adaption of the classic radio series starring Johnny Depp and Armie Hammer, almost never got a greenlight due to an astronomical $250 million budget and concerns that director Gore Verbinski would exceed that amount. Well, after some trimming of the screenplay, Verbinski managed to get the budget down to $215 million and Disney gave the go-ahead. Unfortunately, while they seemingly solved one problem, they weren’t able to fix the second as The Hollywood Reporter is quoting unnamed sources closet to the film’s production that the project has now gone overbudget to a point that has brought it back to at least the original $250 million price tag.

The cost overruns stem from the on location shooting running days perhaps even weeks behind schedule.The delays were in part due to inclement weather that not only delayed filming but also damaged sets. An additional cost came from Verbinski’s insistence on building props he may not have had to build -

Period trains are a huge element in the movie, say sources, and Verbinski opted for the production to construct its own locomotives from scratch rather than employ existing railroad vehicle.

At this point, I couldn’t help to start to be reminded of another runaway production of a western – the infamous Heaven’s Gate. Shot by The Deer Hunter director Michael Cimino, the film’s original budget of $11.6 million skyrocketed to nearly $40 million mostly due to Cimino reshooting scenes upwards of 50 times. The film would only barely pull $3 million in ticket sales and would drive studio United Artists into bankruptcy.

Now I don’t think that when it does finally hit theaters The Lone Ranger will bomb as badly. Depp’s name on the marquee will definitely sell some tickets even if the film isn’t that good. (Witness Alice In Wonderland.) But it will certainly impact Disney’s chances of making a profit on the film, which some would say are already pretty low. And while Disney has been having a rough time with their large budget tent pole pics (Prince Of Persia and John Carter), I don’t think that Lone Ranger will be quite the studio wrecker that Deer Hunter turned out to be.

When we think of the Lone Ranger and Tonto, the image our mind creates is inspired by the Clayton Moore and Jay Silverheels versions of the character, portrayals that are 60 years old. You think buckskin. You think square jaws. You think the 1950′s version of what a cowboy would look like.

The reason why this image sticks with us is that every interpretation of the character since then, be it in movies, television, cartoons or comic books, haven’t strayed from this look. That’s what make the picture tweeted by Jerry Buckheimer, producer of Gore Verbinski’s The Lone Ranger, all that more shocking:

Since it’s such a break from the norm, the natural knee jerk reaction would be to snark about the picture. “So, this time the Lone Ranger and Tonto are united by their mutual love of the works of Edgar Allan Poe!” “Here we see a scene where the duo heads out to the desert to catch a Bauhaus/Cure double bill!”

Of course, this is just one image and it might not be indicative of the direction the whole film will go into. The Lone Ranger is ripe for reinterpretation. But does it really need to go so “goth”?

For a while it looked as if this was never going to come, Disney announced that production has finally begun on their adaption of the classic western radio and television hero The Lone Ranger.

Although it stars Johnny Depp, who has always brought the audiences for his films with the studio, Disney nearly cancelled the project over budgetary concerns back in August. Director Gore Verbinski  jumped in and managed to slash a few things out of the script in order to get the budget down to the neighborhood of $210 million, a figure that the studio was more comfortable with. Along the way, though, actor Dwight Yoakum had to drop out of the project siting a scheduling conflict.

Now it just remains to be seen if all the drama will be worth it, but we’ll have to wait until May 31, 2013 to find out.

Here is Disney’s press release announcing the beginning of production -

BURBANK, Calif. (February 27, 2012) — Production has commenced on location in New Mexico, Arizona, Utah and Colorado on Disney and Jerry Bruckheimer Films’ epic adventure “The Lone Ranger.” The film reunites the filmmaking team of the first three “Pirates of the Caribbean” blockbusters—producer Jerry Bruckheimer and director Gore Verbinski—with Johnny Depp, who created Captain Jack Sparrow in his iconic, Academy Award®-nominated performance and contributed the voice of the title character of Verbinski’s Academy Award-winning “Rango.”

Depp plays spirit warrior Tonto in “The Lone Ranger,” with Armie Hammer (“The Social Network,” “J. Edgar”) starring in the title role. Depp and Hammer are joined by a prestigious international cast which includes Tom Wilkinson, two-time Academy Award nominee (“Michael Clayton,” “In the Bedroom”) and Golden Globe® and Emmy® winner (“John Adams”); William Fichtner (Jerry Bruckheimer’s productions of “Armageddon,” “Pearl Harbor” and “Black Hawk Down”); Emmy Award-winner Barry Pepper (TV’s “The Kennedys,” “True Grit,” “Saving Private Ryan”); James Badge Dale (“The Grey,” TV’s “The Pacific” and “Rubicon”); Ruth Wilson (television’s “Jane Eyre” and “Luther”); and two-time Academy Award nominee and six-time Golden Globe nominee Helena Bonham Carter (“The King’s Speech,” “Alice in Wonderland”). The film is slated to open in the US on May 31, 2013.

“The Lone Ranger” is a thrilling adventure infused with action and humor, in which the famed masked hero is brought tolife through new eyes. Native American spirit warrior Tonto (Johnny Depp) recounts the untold tales that transformed John Reid (Armie Hammer), 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” is written by Ted Elliott & Terry Rossio of “Pirates of the Caribbean,” Eric Aronson and Justin Haythe. The executive producers are Mike Stenson, Chad Oman, Ted Elliott, Terry Rossio, Eric Ellenbogen and Eric McLeod.

Jerry Bruckheimer and Gore Verbinski are joined by a remarkable team of behind-the-scenes artists, including director of photography Bojan Bazelli (Verbinski’s “The Ring,” “Mr. and Mrs. Smith”); visual consultant Mark “Crash” McCreery (production designer of Verbinski’s “Rango”); costume designer Penny Rose (“Pirates of the Caribbean” films); film editor James Haygood (“Panic Room,” “Fight Club”); visual effects supervisor Tim Alexander (“Rango,” three “Harry Potter” films); Academy Award®-winning special effects supervisor John Frazier, a 10-time nominee whose previous collaborations with Jerry Bruckheimer have included “Armageddon,” “Pearl Harbor” and, with Verbinski as well, “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End”; and stunt coordinator Thomas Robinson Harper (“Iron Man,” “Iron Man 2″).

Academy Award®-winning filmmaker Gore Verbinski has enjoyed tremendous box office success as the innovative director of both character-driven franchises and thoughtful genre-bending fare. Most recently, Verbinski released his first animated film, the smash hit “Rango,” starring Johnny Depp. Grossing over $240 million worldwide, the film won the Academy Award for Best Animated FeatureFilm, as well as BAFTA and Annie awards, and received Golden Globe® and PGAnominations. Verbinski previously helmed the hit franchise “Pirates of the Caribbean,” directing the first three films starring Johnny Depp and Keira Knightley. The films have collectively grossed nearly $3 billion worldwide since release. He made his directorial debut with “Mouse Hunt,” starring Nathan Lane, followed by the road movie “The Mexican,” starring Julia Roberts, Brad Pitt and James Gandolfini. He also directed the smash horror film “The Ring,” starring Naomi Watts.

Verbinski is also a successful award-winning commercial director, having been honored with four Clio Awards and a Cannes Silver Lion Award for his work on an assortment of memorable advertising spots. In addition, he directed music videos for bands including Bad Religion and Crystal Method.

First in partnership with Don Simpson, and then as the chief of Jerry Bruckheimer Films, Bruckheimer has produced an unprecedented string of worldwide smashes, impacting not only the industry, but mass culture as well. Bruckheimer’s films include (producing with Don Simpson) “Top Gun,” “Beverly Hills Cop,” “Beverly Hills Cop 2,” “American Gigolo,” “Flashdance,” “Bad Boys,” “Dangerous Minds,” “Crimson Tide,” “The Rock,” and (producing solo) “Con Air,” “Armageddon,” “Enemy of the State,” “Gone in 60 Seconds,” “Coyote Ugly,” “Remember the Titans,” “Pearl Harbor,” “Black Hawk Down,” “Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl,” “Bad Boys II,” “Veronica Guerin,” “King Arthur,” “National Treasure,” “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest,” “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End,” “National Treasure: Book of Secrets” and the 2011 blockbuster “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.”

On television, Bruckheimer had an unprecedented 10 television series airing in the 2005-6 season, a record in the medium for an individual producer. JBTV’s series include “C.S.I.: Crime Scene Investigation” and its spinoffs “C.S.I.: Miami,” “C.S.I.: NY” and “Without a Trace,” “Cold Case” and the eight-time Emmy® Award-winner “The Amazing Race.”

Jerry Bruckheimer Films and Television have been honored with 41 Academy Award® nominations, six wins, eight GRAMMY® Award nominations, five wins, 23 Golden Globe® nominations, four wins, 105 Emmy® Award nominations, 21 wins, 30 People’s Choice nominations, 15 wins, numerous MTV Awards, including one for Best Picture of the Decade for “Beverly Hills Cop.”

“The Lone Ranger” will film exteriors and studio work in New Mexico, followed by locations in Arizona, Utah and Colorado.

1. Puss In Boots (Paramount/Dreamworks, @3,800 Theaters, 90 Minutes, Rated PG): Of all the characters from Shrek that could have been spun off into their own film, I suppose Puss in Boots would be the most obvious choice.

In case you know nothing about the twisted, fairy tale world of Shrek (and by now, you are probably the only one), Puss is a mercenary cat voiced by Antonio Banderas who has a strong sense of honor and the ability to gain the upper hand over his foes through sheer cuteness.

This film will act as a prequel to the character’s first appearance in Shrek 2, showing the path Puss took that led him to the point of accepting the contract on Shrek‘s life.

In a small bit of trivia, this film was originally scheduled to open next week, but was moved up. That doesn’t often happen, especially with computer animated films. That could be a good sign.

2. In Time (Fox, @3,000 Theaters, 109 Minutes, Rated PG-13): High-concept Sci-Fi films are a box office crap shoot. Some become hits that spawn multiple sequels (ala The Matrix). some bomb in the theaters only to become cult favorites on the home video markets (ala Blade Runner), some are just unmitigated disasters (see Waterworld). Often, quality plays little into what makes these types of films successful or not (although it probably played a role in Waterworld‘s failure).

This film has a fairly interesting high-concept–humans stop aging at the age of 25, only to die a year later. They can stave off their demise by buying more years–which has become the currency in this society. The rich become immortal and the poor live short pathetic lives. Justin Timberlake plays a man who unexpectedly comes into a great number of years–which cause him to be investigated by the totalitarian police force that monitors this sort of time transfers.

Director Andrew Niccol directed another high concept sci-fi film, Gattaca, which was a well made examination of a world where class distinction was based on genetic perfection. It died a quick death at the box office. Hopefully the same won’t happen here.

3. The Rum Diary (FilmDistrict, @2,100 Theaters, 120 Minutes, Rated R): Johnny Depp appears to be a man who thrives on familiarity. He has made seven films with Tim Burton (and an 8th, Dark Shadows, is well on its way). He’s made four with Gore Verbinski (five if The Lone Ranger ever gets made). And then there’s Hunter S. Thompson.

Depp became friends with Thompson after playing the author in 1998′s Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. Depp dedicated 2004′s The Libertine to Thompson’s memory, and now he is bringing Thompson’s novel to the screen in this film.

The story involves a journalist working in 1950′s Puerto Rico who has bizarre adventures with the other Americans living there at the time.

Never count a good hero down.

After almost being cancelled over budgetary issues, Disney has finally given the go ahead to their long in-development The Lone Ranger. Production is set to begin on February 6.

The film reunites Johnny Depp with his Pirates Of The Caribbean director Gore Verbinski and producer Jerry  Bruckheimer. While that trio had earned over $2 billion with the first three Pirates films, the studio was balking at the projected $250 million price tag for the adaption of the iconic western character. In the wake of the science-fiction-western genre mashup Cowboys & Aliens flopping at the box office, Disney halted pre-production on Lone Ranger in August. Bruckheimer and Verbinski set to work cutting the film’s budget down to a point where Disney felt more secure in giving a greenlight to the film, with a reported goal of somewhere in the neighborhood of $215 million.

An agreement looked likely just a few weeks ago and Deadline reported last night that it has finally been reached, allowing tings to move forward.

Armie Hammer is still set to star in the film as the masked Texas Ranger who fights for justice after his lawman brother is savagely gunned down by outlaws with Depp as his faithful friend Tonto.

The Lone Ranger is one of three upcoming blockbusters that Disney is heavily betting on. Their live-action adaption of Edgar Rice Burroughs’s pulp hero John Carter which is set to come out next March is looking to cost some $250 million or more while Sam Raimi’s Oz, The Great And Powerful currently in production seems like a bargain with only a $200 million price tag.

Although there is no concrete news, it is doubtful that the film’s original release date of next December 21st will stand firm. A fall start date would have allowed enough time to get things finished, but starting in February doesn’t leave enough of room to comfortably finish the film in time to met that date. Expect the release date to be pushed into 2013.

When we last tuned in to the saga of Disney’s The Lone Ranger, the fate of the film was in doubt as director Gore Verbinski and producer Jerry Bruckheimer were working frantically to get the budget down from a projected $250 million to a more manageable from the studio standpoint $215 million. It appears as if they may have done so as Deadline is reporting from unnamed sources that all issues could be resolved by as early as next week, allowing for the go ahead to begin re-hiring crew members and getting the film in front of cameras next January or February.

Based on the classic radio series and subsequent television show, The Lone Ranger has been in development at Disney for several years with Johnny Depp attached to play Tonto. Depp was so keen to work with his Pirates Of The Caribbean collaborator Verbinski again that he hinted that if the director left the project over the recent budget battle with the studio, he would walk from the project as well. Since Depp’s participation was a key reason in the studio’s eyes for making the film, it appears as if they were willing to work with Verbinski to arrive at a price tag for the project that would be agreeable to everyone.

Armie Hammer is still set to star in the film as the masked Texas Ranger who fights for justice after his lawman brother is savagely gunned down by outlaws.

How the later than originally planned production start will affect Disney’s intention to release the film on December 12, 2012 remains to be seen. It is possible that rather than rush things, they will push the film’s opening back into 2013, though that would leave them without a blockbuster to roll out during the holiday season.

The Lone Ranger is one of three upcoming blockbusters that Disney is heavily betting on. Their live-action adaption of Edgar Rice Burroughs’s pulp hero John Carter which is set to come out next March is looking to cost some $250 million or more while Sam Raimi’s Oz, The Great And Powerful currently in production seems like a bargain with only a $200 million price tag.

Like two gunfighters squaring off on a dusty street in a frontier town, Johnny Depp and Gore Verbinski are staring down Walt Disney Studios chairman Rich Ross over the fate of their long in development adaption of The Lone Ranger. And if Ross makes one wrong move, the entire project could fall apart.

For the past couple of weeks, Disney has been reluctant to greenlight the film due to concerns over the project’s projected price tag, which has been reported to be anywhere between $250 and $275 million. Verbinski has been hard at work with producer Jerry Bruckheimer to trim the budget as much as they can without compromising the film they want to tell.

Deadline is reporting that Verbinski and Bruckheimer have managed to whittle the cost down to approximately $215 million, which is less than their $220 million compromise amount that Disney has indicated that they might be willing to accept, but still above the $200 million that the studio would prefer. (Some of these cuts probably came from Bruckheimer, Verbinski and Depp’s salaries, which are being estimated at about $30 million.)

Greenlighting the film with this new budget would seem like an easy call for the studio to make. As Depp’s Pirates Of The Caribbean films and Alice In Wonderland have raked in literally billions for the studio, it is hard to see why they wouldn’t believe that this film would be a moneymaker as well. The holdup is Disney’s concerns over Verbinski as a director. Although they are happy with the box office returns on the first three Pirates move that Verbinski directed, they were less than happy with his budgets be damned attitude.

In all likelihood, Disney would probably be happy to just go ahead with the movie but with a different director behind the camera. The problem with that is Depp and his loyalty to his friend Verbinski. Insiders have told Deadline that Depp will not make the movie without Verbinski in the director’s chair.

So studio chief Ross’s decision seems to boil down to making The Lone Ranger with Verbinski as director and smile while choking down any cost overruns the director manages to rack up, insist on a change of director and run the risk that Depp walks, scuttling the film or just cancel the film himself.

Remember that this decision isn’t made in a vacuum. Disney is already hurting a bit this summer due to box office returns for the animated Cars 2 being less than what they hoped for. Also the studio has two big budget films currently in production – Sam Raimi’s Oz, The Great And Powerful which is budgeted somewhere around $250 million and the pulp fantasy John Carter which recently had some reshoots that reportedly pushed its budget towards $300 million.

I would imagine that if the economic climate were better, this probably wouldn’t even be a story. But with revenue from DVD and blu-rays shrinking and audiences being a little pickier with the amount that they spend on entertainment, studios are hedging their bets more and more on big ticket projects like The Lone Ranger.

Is The Lone Ranger not really dead, but only wounded?

The Hollywood Reporter is stating that despite having shut down pre-production last week, Disney has given director Gore Verbinski a week to try and rework the script for the long in development adaption of the western hero to bring its cost down to a more affordable level for the studio. Initially, the film was budgeted out to approximately $250 million, though with the fact that they are outlaying on two other expensive projects right now (John Carter and Oz, The Great And Powerful), Disney was hoping to get the final cost of the project down towards the $215 to $220 million range. Verbinski has reportedly made some trims that got the budget down to the $242 million neighborhood.

Of course, during this whole discussion, many people have wondered how a western could cost so much. After all, the Coen Brothers made True Grit for $40 million and even the science-fiction western genre mash-up Cowboys & Aliens only cost $163 million. But it is easy to see why Disney would like to minimize their risk on this movie as much as possible. Despite the instant box office strength of Johnny Depp, westerns are still not much of a box office draw. Although True Grit made $250 million worldwide against its small budget, bigger-budget westerns like Jonah Hex and Cowboys & Aliens have been duds, earning much less than their costs.

Let’s bullet point some of the major costs that are being looked at-

• Salaries – There are some pretty big players involved in the film- Verbinski, producer Jerry Bruckheimer and star Depp all command big money for their services. The Hollywood Reporter is already stating that Verbinski and Bruckheimer have already knocked about $10 million off of their normal fess to help reduce the budget.
• Werewolves – Yup, you ready that right. Werewolves. Earlier drafts of the screenplay were heavy with supernatural elements including werewolves and Tonto being involved in hunting the malevolent Indian supernatural entity known as the Windigo. Good thing that the Lone Ranger has silver bullets, right? Thankfully, though, many of these expensive elements have been reportedly written out of more recent drafts.
• Trains – And while recent drafts have removed elements of the supernatural, they still contain three big action set pieces involving trains, including one being described as “he biggest train sequence in film history.”
• Gore Verbinski himself – Disney may be wary that after all is said and done with reducing the budget that the director won’t just spend like crazy anyway. The studio is reportedly still unhappy that the budget for the third Pirates Of The Caribbean film that he directed for them had a budget that spiraled out of control to nearly $300 million. Will they want him replaced with someone who has a little more control of the purse strings of a project? If Verbinski were shown the door would star Depp follow? Probably not, as he was attached to the project long before Verbinski was hired.

How will this all play out? I suspect we’ll know sooner rather than later. And by sooner, perhaps as early as this weekend, when Disney is holding its D23 expo where they will be promoting a number of their upcoming film projects for fans.

The Lone Ranger has been gunned down and it was Mickey Mouse who pulled the trigger.

Late yesterday evening, Deadline reported that Disney had shut down work on their planned big screen adaption of the western hero The Lone Ranger. Apparently, the studio couldn’t come to terms with producer Jerry Bruckheimer and director Gore Verbinski’s $250 million budget for the film. Disney was only willing to spend $200 million.

The film was set to star Armie Hammer as the masked hero and Johnny Depp as his faithful Indian companion Tonto. Tom Wilkinson had also been signed for the role of a railroad tychoon who figures into the plot. Depp had been attached to the project for several years.

It seems like a weak argument for Disney to make considering that the Bruckheimer and Depp have brought the studio nearly$2 billion in the form of  ticket sales from the four Pirates Of The Caribbean films, the first three of which were directed by Verbinski. On paper it’s a combination that looks like money in the box office.

However, Disney has been spending pretty heavily of late. Reportedly, reshoots currently going on for next month’s John Carter have shot that film’s budget up to $300 million. Filming has just commenced on their revisionist Wizard Of Oz prequel Oz The Great And Powerful with a budget somewhere in the neighborhood of $200 million. Given that Cars 2 has underperformed and is not bring in the cash that Disney had hoped for and that Carter is a huge gamble that might not pay off, The Lone Ranger, with actual filming scheduled to start in October, was the easiest project to shut down in order to reign in overall studio spending. True, Disney will be loosing money with this action. Some millions were already spent on things like a script and the pre-production work already done. Also, some folks, specifically Depp, Verbinski and Bruckheimer, most likely have “play or pay” deals for the film, so they’ll be getting a check no matter what.

I feel bad for Hammer though, as after Justice League, this is the second high-profile film he has been cast in that collapsed before filming began.

The Lone Ranger had been scheduled for a December 21, 2012 release, the same week Paramount opens their zombie apocalpse film World War Z and a week after Peter Jackson’s highly anticipated The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey debuts.

Universal Pictures has decided to drop development of a film based on the Hasbro board game Clue.

The project was one of seven that the studio had been working on based off of various games from the toy manufacturer under the terms of an exclusive six year deal the two parties reached in 2008. Previously, film versions of Monopoly and Magic: The Gathering were also dropped by the studio. Among the game-based projects still alive at the studio include Battleship, which is currently in post-production and scheduled to open next year, Ouija which has McG attached to direct and Candy Land which is currently being scripted by Kung Fu Panda 2 writers Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger.

But just because Universal isn’t interested in a Clue movie, don’t think that it is an entirely dead issue. The film was being developed by Gore Verbinski’s Blind Wink production shingle with the Pirates Of The Caribbean helmer fully intending to direct. (Currently, he has Flash Gordon reboot writers Burk Sharpless and Matt Sazama working on the screenplay in which they will reportedly expand the scope of the game’s setting to something more “global.”) With Universal dropping the project it frees Verbinski to shop the project around to other studios.Hasbro will be footing the bill for the continued development while the film is in turnaround.

I suspect that if Battleship turns out to be an unexpected hit, Verbinski won’t be approaching other studios with this so much as they will be approaching him.

Clue was adapted once before into an ensemble comedy in 1985. True to the spirit of the game, the film famously featured three different endings which were randomly placed on release prints. If audiences wanted to see all three endings, they had to go to three different theaters. When released on home video, all three endings were edited into the film’s climax.

Via Deadline.