Disney Puts Depp's Lone Ranger Film On Hold

Johnny Depp has been signed up to play Tonto in the remake of The Lone Ranger

The Hollywood remake of western The Lone Ranger, starring Johnny Depp, has been put on hold by Disney following concerns over its budget. 

Filming had been due to start in New Mexico in October but has now been delayed after its costs ballooned to $250m (£153m).
Disney did not want to spend more than $200m (£122m) on the movie, according to industry blog Deadline.
Depp was due to play the title character's sidekick Tonto, alongside The Lone Ranger Armie Hammer, who played the Winklevoss twins in The Social Network.
British actress Ruth Wilson, who has appeared in TV series Luther, was cast as the female lead Rebecca.
The project had Jerry Bruckheimer on board as well as Gore Verbinski - both worked on the Pirates of The Caribbean films with Depp.
The Pirates franchise was a huge success for Disney and helped make Depp one of Hollywood’s most bankable actors.
The Lone Ranger had been tipped to become a similar series of films.
But Disney already has two other big budget projects in the works - Oz: The Great And Powerful and fantasy John Carter.
Last week the studio’s chief executive, Bob Iger, voiced fears about the economic climate.
He said: "It's our intention to take a very careful look at what films cost. And if we can't get them to a level that we're comfortable with, we think that we're better off actually reducing the size of our slate than making films that are bigger and increasingly more risky."
The Lone Ranger began life as a radio show then ran as a TV series from 1949-57 with reruns being shown for decades afterwards.
Speaking about the film earlier this year, Depp revealed he wanted to try to reinvent the relationship between the Lone Ranger and Tonto.
"What we’ve got so far screenplay-wise is really great, really funny. I think it's going to be good, when we have a chance to put it up on its feet.
"I always felt Native Americans were badly portrayed in Hollywood films over the decades.
"It's a real opportunity for me to give a salute to them. Tonto was a sidekick in all the Lone Ranger series. [This film] is a very different approach to that partnership. And a funny one I think."

Actor Armie Hammer has been cast as the Texas Ranger