"The Lone Ranger" Pushes Forward Despite Budget Cuts

Budget talks set back production earlier this year, jeopardizing the movie's future at the studio. "The Lone Ranger" was originally set to cost $250 million, but was recently cut down to $215 million during negotiations. The dock means the film's star, Johnny Depp, producer Jerry Bruckheimer, and director Gore Verbinski will see sizable pay cuts as well. A reduction in their asking rates was enough to get the green light from Disney.
"Johnny Depp, Jerry Bruckheimer and Gore Verbinski are such a talented combination and we're thrilled to get back to work with them on 'The Lone Ranger'," a Disney spokesperson said.
The new script adds a supernatural touch to the Western (which is not surprising, given Depp's hand in the direction) and was changed a bit to reduce the cost of visual effects.
"The Lone Ranger" has a target start date of Feb. 2012. Time for IMDb to change their release date from "????" to 2013!
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