Johnny Depp to play "Tonto" in new "Lone Ranger" movie?

Poster for 1981's "The Legend of the Lone Ranger"

The Lone Ranger may be making a return to the big screen. And his faithful Indian companion, Tonto, is going to be played by…

…Johnny Depp…?

The Lone Ranger, which started out as a radio drama, and was also the basis for movie serials and an early TV series, is indeed rumored to be in development at the always busy Jerry Bruckheimer films. The latest incarnation is being written by Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio, screenwriters of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies, Mask of Zorro and the 1998 Roland Emmerich Godzilla remake. A director has not been announced, nor has any casting, other than the Depp rumor.

Nearly three thousand installments of the radio series were broadcast, starting in the early thirties. The movie serials also debuted in the thirties. Depending on which installment you caught, the Lone Ranger’s real name was either Dan or John Reid, a former Texas Ranger left for dead by a gang of outlaws. With Tonto’s help, he buries his murdered companions next to an empty grave with his own name on it, puts on the mask, and goes on a crusade to bring the killers to justice.

The radio drama The Green Hornet, later a TV show starring Van Williams and Bruce Lee, was originally a spin-off of The Lone Ranger. Hero Britt Reid was supposed to be a nephew of Dan/John Reid.

The best-known incarnation of the character was probably the fifties television version, which remained in syndication for decades. Clayton Moore played the masked man for most of the series’ run, and throughout the remainder of his life he claimed to be the only Lone Ranger. The assertion was patently untrue, as at least one other actor played the character on the TV series alone, and several other actors had played the part in the earlier radio and movie serial versions. Tonto was played on the TV show by native American actor Jay Silverheels.

In 1981, a new feature film, The Legend of the Lone Ranger, was released. The movie was directed by veteran cinematographer William A. Fraker, and looked great. Which was about as far it went. The studio, upset that Clayton Moore kept showing up in public wearing a black mask, actually got a court injunction ordering him to stop, and added insult to injury by giving John Hart, who had also played the Lone Ranger on TV, a brief cameo. It didn’t matter in the long run. The movie was spectacular only in its utter failure. Star Klinton Spilsbury looked good in a mask, for whatever that’s worth, but his dialogue actually had to be redubbed by another actor (rumored to be an uncredited James Keach). Spilsbury was never seen or heard from again. Neither was the film.
 

"The Lone Ranger" movie serial

At least two other television attempts to revive the character, once in the sixties, and once in 2003, have been unsuccessful. If the Bruckheimer version does indeed materialize with Depp in the Tonto role, it will presumably be an untraditional approach.

Bruckheimer, generally working with Walt Disney Productions, is one of the busier production companies in Hollywood right now. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire director Mike Newell, who previously was known for smaller scale, personal pictures like Four Weddings and a Funeral, is currently in post-production on Prince of Persia: Sands of Time, based on the popular video game. Jake Gyllenhall stars. The movie, slated for a May 28, 2010 release, is only one project on producer’s incredibly crowded plate.

At least two other big-ticket sequels are in development: a third entry in the National Treasure series, and a fourth in the Pirates of the Caribbean series. Johnny Depp is confirmed to return as Captain Jack Sparrow in the latter, although Orlando Bloom is not expected to be back.

Depp is also expected to play vampire Barnabas Collins in an upcoming feature film adaptation of the daytime soap opera Dark Shadows, following Pirates of the Caribbean 4.