Posted on Monday, December 19th, 2011 by Angie Han

Casting on the long-gestating adaptation of Orson Scott Card‘s sci-fi YA novel Ender’s Game has been falling into place over the past month, with Asa Butterfield (Hugo) signed on for the lead role and Hailee Steinfeld and Ben Kingsley in talks to join as well. Now Canadian teen star Brendan Meyer has boarded the project in the role of Stilson, a classmate who bullies Ender. Meyer is best known for his lead role in the Canadian series Mr. Young, which follows a child prodigy who graduates college at 14 and returns to his high school as a science teacher.
Gavin Hood will direct the film from his own script, about a gifted boy who is drafted into a special military program that trains children to fight against an alien species called the Formics. Ender’s Game will begin shooting early next year for a March 2013 release. [The Hollywood Reporter]
After the jump, Tom Wilkinson gets some help in Disney’s The Lone Ranger.
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Long before Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides was released and grossed over $1 billion worldwide, screenwriter Terry Rossio was hired and completed a script for a fifth installment. The success of the fourth film all but assured Pirates of the Caribbean 5 would be made, especially when Johnny Depp said he’d do it and a list of rumored directors was leaked. Producer Jerry Bruckheimer has now issued an encouraging update. In a discussion with The Hollywood Reporter, he confirmed that the script has been completed but “we decided we could do better.” They’re now re-outlining the story.
After the jump read more about this as well as his detailed and enlightening comments on the budgetary drama surrounding his next film, The Lone Ranger. Read More »

Are you tired of the back and forth, ‘maybe they will, maybe they won’t’ non-action on Disney’s Lone Ranger? If so, you might be in luck, at least if the idea of the movie happening still seems like a good idea. The studio looks like it is ready to re-commit to the project with Jerry Bruckheimer, Gore Verbinski and Johnny Depp. The green light hasn’t been given yet, but the current word is that Disney will probably flash that signal next week, leading to an early 2012 shoot. Read More »

Sometimes even Johnny Depp is too expensive. Deadline is reporting that Disney has pulled the plug on The Lone Ranger, the Jerry Bruckheimer-produced, Gore Verbinski-directed action western based on the classic TV show that was scheduled for release next Christmas. According to reports, the proposed budget came in north of $240 million and even when it was cut back, was still more than $230 million. With expensive films like John Carter and Oz The Great and Powerful already at various stages of production, and The Lone Ranger not yet shooting, Disney cancelled the film to save some bucks. There’s more after the jump. Read More »

Disney, Jerry Bruckheimer and Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy director Gore Verbinski are really, truly making a new Lone Ranger, in which Johnny Depp will star as a sort of revisionist Tonto, with Armie Hammer (The Social Network, J. Edgar) playing the titular ranger. Now two Western veterans, Dwight Yoakam and Barry Pepper, are in talks for the film. Just for good measure Helena Bonham Carter is likely to join the cast, thereby making Lone Ranger a bridge between Johnny Depp’s major movie worlds, Tim Burton and Pirates of the Caribbean. Read More »
Posted on Wednesday, July 13th, 2011 by Angie Han

Ruth Wilson will be breaking into the boys’ club as the female lead of Gore Verbinski‘s The Lone Ranger, starring Armie Hammer as the Texas ranger and Johnny Depp as his sidekick Tonto. Although Wilson’s name may be unfamiliar to most Americans, she’s known in the UK for her work on the BBC’s Luther and the Masterpiece Theatre miniseries Jane Eyre. Wilson was selected over Jessica Chastain and Abbie Cornish, who were also being considered for the part, and is currently in negotiations. Very few details have been revealed about her character, named Rebecca.
Unlike the earlier versions of the property, Verbinski’s Lone Ranger will be told from Tonto’s perspective — “Don Quixote told from Sancho Panza’s point of view,” as Verbinski has described it. The film will hit theaters December 21. [Deadline]
After the jump, B.J. Novak joins The Dictator opposite Sacha Baron Cohen a.k.a. Borat, and Peter Mullan takes on an action thriller.
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Posted on Thursday, June 23rd, 2011 by Angie Han

We’ve already discussed at this space the ways in which Johnny Depp and Armie Hammer seem like excellent choices to play the Lone Ranger and Tonto, respectively, in the new The Lone Ranger film. Now another actor may be joining the mix as well. Tom Wilkinson is reportedly “in early talks” for a major part in the Disney Western, which is being directed by Gore Verbinski and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer. Read more after the jump.
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Next Christmas, get your “Hi-yoo Silver!” on as Disney has now set a holiday release date for The Lone Ranger. Directed by Gore Verbinski, produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and starring Armie Hammer as the title character and Johnny Depp as Tonto, the film is scheduled to hit the big screen on December 21, 2012. Read more after the break. Read More »