The long, slow march to get The Lone Ranger on the big screen continues, with the news that Revolutionary Road screenwriter, Justin Haythe, has been hired to work on the script. When originally announced, Pirates Of The Caribbean writers Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio were suppposed to be handling the screenplay for the Johnny Depp film, but now THR says its Haythe who got the job. As the film can’t start shooting until Pirates 4 has wrapped, at least he has a little time to get the job done.
It’s not Haythe’s first big budget assignment, as until recently he was working on 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea, until Disney scrapped the remake following an exec shuffle. The Lone Ranger is tentatively set for release in 2012, but as the production keeps slipping further and further back as more things come along to fill up Depp’s schedule, don’t be surprised if it takes even longer to arrive.
Haythe isn’t the only writer to get a new gig, as Variety reports that Nick Pustay has been hired to adapt the young-adult novel, Shiver, for the big screen. The story is about the romance between a teen girl and a boy who becomes a wolf each winter. As the temperature drops, the race is on to keep him human. A big best-seller, it should certainly tap into the Twilight audience.
The Rock screenwriters, Douglas Cook and David Weisberg also have a fresh project, as it’s being reported (via /Film), that they’re working on a film adaptation of the videogame, Darkest Of Days. The game follows an American Civil War soldier who akakens in the future in the headquarters of an organisation that has managed to develop time travel technology and is apparently dedicated to researching and protecting history. He must them help the company save some of history’s key figures from being killed from by shadowy forces.