Thought of as a pretty massive production for years, it seems that Disney is finally getting wind of the potential stack of cash it will cost to make the Gore Verbinski’s Lone Ranger and they aren’t too happy.
Back in 2008, it was announced and promoted that Johnny Depp was attached to the project as Tonto, and more recently The Social Network’s Armie Hammer was attached to play the lead role. It seems that if the film can’t get to a more reasonable budget, there may not be a Lone Ranger–at least not for a while.
From what Variety has to say, it looks like the film isn’t completely dead, just in a state of adjustment.
Despite reports that Disney has pulled the plug on the bigscreen adaptation, the pic is far from dead at the studio, sources close to the production told Variety.
Both parties are looking to trim the film’s escalating budget to get it closer to the $200 million that Disney was looking to spend to make the movie, currently skedded to shoot in October. Film will shoot in New Mexico, which will offer the studio tax breaks.
Scrutinizing the budget shouldn’t come as much of a surprise, with studios often combing over a film’s costs before a film gets the greenlight, especially at cost-conscious congloms.
The film is currently slated for a December 2012 release, but could get pushed back until the studio is able to find a way to make the film slightly more cost effective.
