LONE RANGER:250 mil gets you canceled but 215 mil is just right ? (1 Viewer)

[montrealfilmguy]

I really thought for a very small moment Disney had some sense and a reality check about overblown budgets.
Guess not.
I really hope these werewolves justify the spending.
http://screenrant.com/the-lone-ranger-werewolves-benm-133252/
And casting Depp as Tonto and NOT as the main character ?
What's up with that decision ?

 

[JonZ]

Lone Ranger... and werewolves? Sounds stupid to me, but I like the artwork in the link you provided.

 

[Greg_S_H]

Until Jon's post, I just assumed Ben was calling the Disney execs werewolves. Then I read the link. Are they for serious? WTF LOL and whatever other acronyms are appropos.

 

[montrealfilmguy]

I only started hearing about this about two months ago and i was really happy that they had decided to pull the plug on this and
canceled the project.I thought the money would be better served if split over other upcoming projects.
Me thinks Disney has their own dictionary (a Disneynary ?) and the word canceled seems to now have a different connotation.
"One moment please,i"ll see if Mickey's in his office,lemme just put you on cancel."

 

[SD_Brian]

Well The Lone Ranger uses silver bullets, and werewolves can be killed with silver bullets, so I suppose the pairing makes some sense... Still, this sounds a lot like that awful Van Helsing movie.

 

[Chad R]

As far as the budget goes, you're assuming that the only thing that was trimmed was the budget. I'm guessing this has more to do with back-end points to the major players involved, i.e. Disney is gonna keep more of the profits than Bruckheimer, Verbinski and Depp. They might have used it as a bargaining chip on salaries for the next "Pirates" film as well. There's still a gentleman's agreement between the studios and the Hollywood press to not report on those deals. For now, at least.

 

[Jeff Jacobson]

He's the Green Hornet's great-uncle, so I guess his movie has to get ruined too.

 

[JonZ]

And we have our first photo..

http://www.aintitcool.com/node/54120

 

[Bryan^H]

And we have our first photo..
http://www.aintitcool.com/node/54120

AWESOME. Thanks !

 

[Radioman970]

This sounds neato! Mama buy me and my best friend a ticket!
/12 years old
Seriously, I like the pic. Hope we get the whole LR TV series of old out for us to buy. (oops, looks like season 1 and 2 ARE out... adding to wish list, cool cool)

 

[Bryan^H]

Yeah, I have the first two season on dvd I hope the color seasons are released as well.

 

[Radioman970]

I think I only ever watched those in B&W even if they were the color episodes.

 

[Stan]

My personal opinion only, but for whatever reason I can't stand Westerns.
Hated them growing up and have never seen one since. Even the successful ones like Tombstone and others I've passed by.
Maybe an age thing, they were popular at just the wrong time in my life and I refuse to watch them. No matter how well this may be done, I won't spend a penny seeing it in a theatre or renting it later.
Not just my opinion, but I'm predicting colossal bomb if this gets made.

 

[Richard--W]

The viability of The Lone Ranger expired long ago. Perhaps as a radio program in the 1930s and 1940s it was possible to suspend disbelief, but seeing a grown man wearing a powder-blue suit and a muskrat mask under a white stetson riding a white stallion across the American west is simply ludicrous. The western is an earthy and flexible genre, but not that flexible. In real life, the Texas Rangers were a gritty breed, and they would have shot this dandy off his horse with their Winchesters from half a mile away. Concealing your identity behind a mask could not possibly work in the American west. Even in the imaginary west, the Lone Ranger series and films do not represent the American western very well.
With all the plumage on his head and face Johnny Depp guarantees the drag queen crowd will turn out for this version of The Lone Ranger. There is not enough of them to make the film a hit, thankfully, and I agree this film will sink like a stone. Traditionally, Tonto has been played by a Native American. I have to be suspicious of the producer's motives in casting a white Anglo drag queen like Johnny Deep as a Native American. This version can't be a straightforward or serious western. There must be some kind of agenda going on, some kind of anti-western theme or male-gender-role deconstruction from an extreme feminist perspective. Since you hate westerns, you might like this one.

 

[Radioman970]

^^ it's just for fun. :p ... I know, it's hard to suspend disbelief. But so much fun stuff out there requires it. Most superhero stuff is that way. Most fantasy, most sci-fi...

 

[JonZ]

Originally Posted by Richard--W /t/315123/lone-ranger-250-mil-gets-you-canceled-but-215-mil-is-just-right#post_3905333
...but seeing a grown man wearing a powder-blue suit and a muskrat mask under a white stetson riding a white stallion across the American west is simply ludicrous. The western is an earthy and flexible genre, but not that flexible. In real life, the Texas Rangers were a gritty breed, and they would have shot this dandy off his horse with their Winchesters from half a mile away. Concealing your identity behind a mask could not possibly work in the American west. Even in the imaginary west, the Lone Ranger series and films do not represent the American western very well.

^ Which is why I kind of like the LRs look in that pic. The clothes are more common for the era, and I think it would be more believeable for him to put the mask on and take it off as needed, instead of wearing it constantly.

The mask is a problem though. It looks like its made by the guys who made Batmans cowl.. its too "out of time" and should be a simple cloth with eye holes.

I think with some tweaking the concept could work. Its already been mentioned theyre not going for realistic or believeable and the film with definitely have a tongue in cheek approach - which IMHO is another disappointment.

BTW, I LOVE westerns. I wish we had more of them each year. I dont have a fondness for the ultraclean older westerns of the Wayne era and the like, but do like the ones from the 60s forward that have had a more realistic, grittier approach.

 

[Bryan^H]

The viability of The Lone Ranger expired long ago. Perhaps as a radio program in the 1930s and 1940s it was possible to suspend disbelief, but seeing a grown man wearing a powder-blue suit and a muskrat mask under a white stetson riding a white stallion across the American west is simply ludicrous. The western is an earthy and flexible genre, but not that flexible. In real life, the Texas Rangers were a gritty breed, and they would have shot this dandy off his horse with their Winchesters from half a mile away. Concealing your identity behind a mask could not possibly work in the American west. Even in the imaginary west, the Lone Ranger series and films do not represent the American western very well.
With all the plumage on his head and face Johnny Depp guarantees the drag queen crowd will turn out for this version of The Lone Ranger. There is not enough of them to make the film a hit, thankfully, and I agree this film will sink like a stone.

Good lord, it is FICTION! The Lone Ranger was created as escapist entertainment and nothing more. Take it for what it is, buy some popcorn and enjoy it.
With the production cost being so high, this may just break even, but maybe it will do great. If 'True Grit' can rake in $260 million, I'm guessing The Lone Ranger can draw some serious cash.

 

[dpippel]

I highly doubt that this film will be anywhere close to being in the same league as True Grit.

 

[Bryan^H]

I highly doubt that this film will be anywhere close to being in the same league as True Grit.

No way. I was just illustrating the fact that they are both westerns. I think The Lone Ranger could possibly be a very likeable family film(close to the Disney Pirates movie) if it is done correctly.

 

[Richard--W]

Good lord, it is FICTION! The Lone Ranger was created as escapist entertainment and nothing more. Take it for what it is, buy some popcorn and enjoy it.
With the production cost being so high, this may just break even, but maybe it will do great. If 'True Grit' can rake in $260 million, I'm guessing The Lone Ranger can draw some serious cash.

Well I have to maintain that even in fiction THE LONE RANGER is ludicrous.
I don't think it will be successful. I'm absolutely sure it will lose money, even with Depp.
He sits there with a stuffed crow on his head, with the wings spread out.
I enjoy the 1956 and 1958 LONE RANGER features because of the vivid color, the Sedona landscapes and Old Tucson Studio location , even though I can't buy into the premise. I love westerns more than any other type of film and invest a lot time in watching them. I accept almost everything in the way of westerns, but I've never been able to buy into the Lone Ranger.
The demand for westerns is greater than the supply right now. American audiences want new westerns, but they want good ones and original ones, not retreads of worn-out and over-familiar ideas. Even with all the interest, $215 million is extravagant and higher than the market will support. TRUE GRIT is so different from THE LONE RANGER I don't think it's popularity will generate interest in the other.