Not too long ago the Lone Ranger’s plug was pulled by Disney due to budget concerns. And by concerns I mean the film’s $250 million dollar budget. Right now I’m not even wondering whether or not the film will be made, I’m too busy wondering what in the hell could cost 250 mil in a movie about the Lone Ranger. Was there going to be a thousand horses in it? Cowboys and Aliens only had a $163 million budget (Box Office Mojo) and there were effin’ aliens in it and a cowboy with a wrist-blaster!

Apparently these are some of the things that were going to be in the movie via IGN:

THR says the werewolves and supernatural elements that were part of earlier drafts had already been removed from the script by the time Disney yanked the film, but that in its place are some hugely expensive railroad action sequences, set-pieces said to be the biggest train stunts ever planned. 

Director Gore Verbinski, who helmed the first three Pirates of the Caribbean films for Disney, is the one the studio deems responsible for bringing down the budget. If he can’t then one option is replacing him with a director who can and/or reconceiving the project on a cheaper scale. Verbinski is said to have only reduced the $250 million budget by $6-8 million; Disney wants the budget at anywhere from $200-220 million, still a steep sum for a western based on a character that’s really only known to older audiences.

I never would have imagined that werewolves and railroad action scenes could cost so much. And I find it very interesting that Disney is placing the budget responsibilities on Gore Verbinski and effectively tying his hands. I mean the guy only brought them a couple billion dollars in from the Pirates of the Caribbean movies. You’re welcome Disney!

I’m sure about $50 million would be going to Johnny Depp who would have been playing Tonto, the Lone Ranger’s Native American sidekick. Am I the only one who sees this casting move as borderline retarded? Johnny Depp…. as a Native American named Tonto. Good gravy you suck Disney! Even Jay Silverheels who played Tonto in the 50’s was a Canadian First Nation and he made that shit work! I can see Disney having misgivings about the Lone Ranger since they’ve already got an obscure character coming to the theater in the form of John Carter. And by obscure I mean no one under the age of 27 knows much besides the names of these characters.  I think John Carter is more of a for sure thing as a sci-fi movie than the Lone Ranger as a western, so perhaps they’ll try to build off that success. Either way I’m not disappointed at all by the news of it’s possible demise.

What does everyone else think? Would a Lone Ranger movie be any good? Is it still going to happen? The Mask of Zorro was a decent movie based off a masked character from that same era. I just can’t get enthused about it, but I hope there are some pro-Ranger fans out there so let your voice be heard! Or at least some Depp fans….