The behind-the-scenes drama on Lone Ranger is turning out to be more interesting than the movie is ever likely to be. It seemed the whole thing was dead a few weeks ago when Disney cancelled the movie, saying that $250 million was way too much to pay for a western – even one that brought the Pirates Of The Caribbean team of Johnny Depp, director Gore Verbinski and producer Jerry Bruckheimer back together.
However since then Verbinski and co. have been working to try and bring the cost down, while not compromising too much of the supernatural elements or massive action setpieces they want to include in the movie. It appears it may have worked, as Deadline reports that Disney is now a lot happier with the proposed budget. Any remaining problems should be resoved early this week, paving the way for a shoot early next year.
Apparently the budget has been shaved from $250 million to $215 million, partly by cutting the paycheques of all the main players. It’s still a hell of a lot to pay for a movie that is a bit of a gamble – especially considering the failure of Cowboys & Aliens this summer. However they said a Pirates Of The Caribbean movie was madness when it was first announced, so perhaps the team behind that can bring the same magic to the action-western.