Waiting for The Lone Ranger
When I first bought The Silver Bullet newsletter in 2002 and later created the Lone Ranger Fan Club, Sony/Columbia was making plans for a new motion picture for The Lone Ranger. Those plans -- which included Tonto being a woman -- died in 2007, only to be resurrected a few months later by Disney.
As we know, Disney's The Lone Ranger arrives in theaters on July 3, 2013. The movie is being done by the Pirates of the Caribbean team of Jerry Bruckheimer, Gore Verbinski and Johnny Depp. It stars Depp as Tonto and Armie Hammer as The Lone Ranger.
Looking back at the past 11 years while Lone Ranger fans eagerly awaited a revival of the masked man, we can see that Hollywood marched on. Even the filmmakers themselves have been busy since they took the reins in 2007. Just for fun, here is a look at some of the movies that have come out since Sony first proposed rebooting The Lone Ranger:
Seven of the eight Harry Potter films.
Five films of the Twilight series.
Four films of the Pirates of the Caribbean, James Bond, Jason Bourne, Spider-Man, Ice Age, Iron Man (if you include The Avengers), X-Men, and Star Wars (including the Clone Wars cartoon and the 3-D re-release of Phantom Menace).
Three each of Shrek (four if you count the Puss in Boots spinoff), Transformers, Batman, Madagascar, Star Trek, Chronicles of Narnia, Alvin and the Chipmunks, and Lord of the Rings/Hobbit.
Two each of Men in Black, The Hulk, Cars, Sherlock Holmes, Terminator, Superman, Night at a Museum, Fantastic Four, National Treasure, Hellboy, and The Matrix.
Among other Westerns, we have had Rango, True Grit, 3:10 to Yuma, Cowboys and Aliens, Open Range, Hidalgo, Legend of Zorro and Django Unchained.
Since coming on board, Jerry Bruckheimer has produced seven movies and numerous television programs. Depp has made nine movies and Verbinsky has directed four films. Depp and Verbinsky collaborated on the quirky Rango.
Anyway, the wait is almost over. Once again The Lone Ranger rides again! Hi-Yo Silver, Away!
