As big budget movies go, Disney’s The Lone Ranger starring Armie Hammer and Johnny Depp is, surprisingly, one of the biggest. Budgeted at upwards of $215 Million, it ranks as one of the most expensive movies ever made.

And now, we can see where at least some of that money went as the first trailer for the movie has been released. Check it out below and let us know what you think.

Look for The Lone Ranger in theaters next July.

In disappointing news for all the Bioshock fans out there, it looks like the film adaptation of the popular video game series is once again on the shelf. The film has run into many difficulties since day one securing the desired budget and creative control that a project like this would need. Gore Verbinski was set to produce with Juan Carlos Fresnadillo set to direct, but it appears the helmer may no longer be on the project.

According to director Juan Carlos Fresnadillo, he has completely left the Bioshock adaptation due to the drawn out process of getting this film off the ground

“To be honest, by now, I’m completely out of that, and developing other stuff,” Fresnadillo said. “Right now it’s on hold. The studio and the video game company, they have to reach some kind of agreement about the budget and the rating.”

Twitter is fast becoming a reliable and consistent news stream. A place where people can share comments, pictures or videos directly with fans. Case in point, Jerry Bruckheimer took to his twitter to release the first official image from the upcoming film The Lone Ranger.

The image reveals the updated look to the classic Lone Ranger and his faithful sidekick Tonto. Underneath the crazy make-up on Tonto is Johnny Depp, who seems to be on a mission to have a more elaborate face make-up every time he is on screen.

The very dapper looking Lone Ranger is played by Armie Hammer, who many still don’t realize is the single person who played both Winkelvoss twins in The Social Network. He actually strikes as a very good Lone Ranger, he has the look down pat, and his ability as an actor has been proven.

It will be interesting to see what tone The Lone Ranger is going for. The idea of a western franchise that has the same scope and demeanor of the Pirates films could be pretty great. Somewhere inbetween The Mask of Zorro and Wild Wild West there lies a pretty awesome western adventure, hopefully this film will be it.

You can check out the full new image after the jump.

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.

We hinted at it a while back, but now it looks like it’s officially news, as Pirates of the Carribbean helmer Gore Verbinski will be taking on the adventure of The Lone Ranger for Disney. Deadline has the scoop.

Still no word on when the film will begin production or who’ll play the Lone Ranger. Verbinski had been looking around for his next job after completing his first animated film as a director in Rango, which Paramount Pictures distributes next year.

While there’s no word on who will play the masked avenger, there is already strong rumors the Johnny Depp will be taking on the role of Tonto. This news came through months ago when both Verbinski and Bruckheimer were first rumored to be attached to the film.

That theory would go along nicely with the fact that Verbinski’s Rango, which he is currently wrapping up, stars Depp as the voice of the main character.

Also a rumor around the time of Depp was the idea that George Clooney would be playing The Lone Ranger. No word whether this is still an option, but if he’s in the running for Soderbergh’s Man From U.N.C.L.E., then you can expect him to pass on Ranger.

Last week, a perplexing video debuted on Apple. It appeared to be a trailer for Gore Verbinski’s animated adventure, Rango, but only by way of a few illegal substances.  It turns out that was only a preview for the film’s website (oh, what marketing times we live in!) and the actual trailer premiered this week.

Rango centers on a little household pet who goes on a journey to discover his true self.   Now we finally know what the “household pet” voiced by Johnny Depp is — an adorable, Hawaiian shirt wearing lizard.   Somehow, he’s made his way into the desert where he has no instinct for survival.  The trailer doesn’t betray much in terms of story, and simply lets little Rango run shrieking and wild.

The trailer is pretty cute, and is absolutely gorgeous and immersive in its animation.  The animals are stylized in their features, but their fur, feathers, and scales look photoreal.   The desert feels sunbaked and scary.  And the little Wild West town?  Well, that’s just adorable.   Who knew Rango was going to be a kiddie Western? Not me. I was expecting Bolt all over again.   Rango looks like it might just make Nickelodeon and Paramount a worthy animation rival to DreamWorks and Pixar.

The trailer can be seen after the jump. Watch it, and tell us what you think.  Rango is scheduled to hit theaters March 4, 2011.

As you undoubtedly know by now, the fourth Pirates of the Caribbean installment has sailed without Gore Verbinski. The director has kept himself busy with Rango, but hasn’t seen any of his live action projects come to fruition.

But now Variety reports that Verbinski is in talks to direct a remake of The Secret Life of Walter Mitty.  The classic 1947 film has been making the remake rounds for decades, with Steven Spielberg, Ron Howard and Chuck Russell taking the helm at various times.  Now it may fall to Verbinski, as 20th Century Fox is determined to get it cast and shooting by next spring.

Walter Mitty is based on James Thurber’s short story. Mitty is a book editor who spends more time in heroic daydreams than in making his own life a success.  The film took great liberties with the source material (much to the dismay of Thurber) and became a story where a daydreamer becomes a real life hero. There’s no talk of the Mitty remake returning to the source material, so I imagine the update will be filled with similar elements of zaniness, especially since Jim Carrey was once attached to star.

Verbinski is also still involved with the bigscreen adaptation of Bioshock. Though budgetary concerns caused him to lose the director’s chair to Juan Carlos Fresnadillo, he remains attached as producer.  Rumors have swirled that Bioshock is dead in the water, but Verbinski told IGN that he’s still hoping to inject it with a plasmid or two.

As many fans of the videogame franchise know, news of a BioShock film has kept us all in suspense since word of it first surfaced nearly a year ago. Initially, Universal greenlit the pic and had Pirates of the Caribbean franchise director Gore Verbinski attached to the project. Sadly, Verbinski had to leave the film due to scheduling conflicts, but not before the film’s budget had ballooned to $160 Million — which may be another reason for his departure.

Now, word comes from Slash FIlm that Universal has found a replacement for Verbinski: writer/director Juan Carlos Fresnadillo, who’s last film was the decently successful 28 Weeks Later.  Set in an alternative history 1960, BioShock follows the story of a plane crash survivor named Jack, who must explore the underwater city of Rapture, and survive attacks by the mutated beings and mechanical drones that populate it.

Jack is drawn into a power struggle during which he discovers that his will may not be as free as he thinks it is. With Fresnadillo stepping in to fill the rather big shoes of Gore Verbinski, you have to wonder if Universal is so hot on a BioShock film these days. He certainly doesn’t have the track record of Verbinski with big tent-pole films plus the budget and schedule are reportedly being cut. That’s not always an indicator of anything, especially the end product, but it doesn’t seem to bode well.

Variety reports that Disney is considering Rob Marshall (Chicago, Memoirs of a Geisha) to direct the fourth installment of its Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. If successful, the move would easily put the film on track for a 2010 start with Johnny Depp reprising his role as Captain Jack Sparrow.

While Marshall’s involvement has yet to be confirmed, the studio is reportedly moving forward in the casting process, searching for talent to embody new characters that will appear in the picture. Gore Verbinski, who helmed the first three films in the series, stepped away from the fourth film to focus on a movie version of the vidgame BioShock for Universal. With the film’s future is currently on hold, Verbinski has moved on to other directing and producing projects.

Producer Jerry Bruckheimer and Disney have been meeting with a several directors in recent weeks, since the studio would like Depp to star in it before he begins work on The Lone Ranger.  Regardless of who Disney taps for the next film, it will be certainly be big business for Disney, whose first three Pirates flicks grossed $2.6 billion worldwide.