Disney’s The Lone Ranger, set to star Johnny Depp as Tonto and Armie Hammer as the masked hero was reportedly put out to pasture just a week ago. Disney was not happy with the $250 million dollar price tag – can’t say I blame them, that is a hell of a lot of money.
THR reports:
While the studio is giving director Gore Verbinski a week to rework the script and bring costs down significantly, many associated with the project believe the budget pressures are too drastic to salvage the Jerry Bruckheimer-produced movie as it was conceived and developed.
Verbinski is said to have brought the budget down to $242 million to $244 million via nips and tucks, but the source says it needs to get to $215 million to $220 million — or less. Verbinski and Bruckheimer are said to have given up a total of $10 million from their fees, but it appears unlikely that the filmmakers will reduce the budget further.
Let’s just take a moment here to mention the original script and why on earth a western would cost $250 million. It has been reported that the original script included Native American werewolves and other supernatural creatures based in the same mythology. Are you serious, werewolves? Don’t we see enough of these already, what’s next — Vampires?
Thankfully in the latest drafts the werewolves have gone the way of old Yeller. But there are still hurdles in the script that will get in the way of bringing this monster to the desired budget. Three major action set pieces, one of which is described as “the biggest train sequence in movie history”.
If this movie is to actually happen, however unlikely it may seem today, I dare say we are better off without more werewolves plaguing the silver screen.
