A New Lone Ranger Movie?

Lone-Ranger-BruckheimerRemakes of classic movies/tv shows/cartoons/books are very tempting to a Hollywood studio for obvious reasons. There is name recognition for the general public, in many cases the source material is pretty rich often with iconic type character, and generally proven type-structure is already there. Sometimes this adaption is pretty successful and highly profitable… but can it be done with The Lone Ranger?

Apparently, Terry Rossio and Ted Elliott (the guys who wrote Pirates of the Caribbean) have been developing an adaptation of The Lone Ranger for none other than Jerry Bruckheimer to produce. The good folks over at Cinematical give us this:

According to the report, the studio won’t confirm the assignment, so they can only go by their sources, and as HI describes it, the writing duo is “trying to create a new juggernaut for Bruckheimer to exploit.” Sure, they made pirates all the rage, but can they do the same with cowboys?

I remember various re-run incarnations of The Lone Ranger on TV when I was a kid. I do remember having fun watching it, but it never made that much of an impression on me. There is no denying the pure name recognition… but the reality is that’s all it is… recognition. People in my age range and younger never grew up on The Lone Ranger (unlike say… Transformers).

And if Bruckheimer is looking for a blockbuster… the western genre hasn’t exactly been pulling them into the theaters. Even a magnificent film like 3:10 To Yuma couldn’t generate much. Sure there was Wild Wild West back in 1999 that took in over $110 million, but that was really capitalizing on a Will Smith lead who was at the the height of his popularity fresh off Independence Day and Men In Black… and yes there was Unforgiven… but that was an Oscar winner and over 15 years ago.

So yes, a Lone Ranger movie would probably be worth a shot, but if Bruckheimer is looking for his next major blockbuster… I think he looking in the wrong place. Guess we’ll wait and see.

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13 thoughts on “A New Lone Ranger Movie?

  1. I want to nominate Timothy Olyphant for the title role in Disney’s new Lone Ranger movie. Olyphant’s work as the sole camp lawman in HBO’s Deadwood, & more recently in his role as an irreverent deputy marshall in FX’s Justified, he demonstrates a smooth, disciplined & unrelenting demeanor, just as the Lone Ranger character demands. Clayton Moore, the original Lone Ranger, was athletic & svelt. Timothy Olyphant’s recent characters are photogenic in the same vane as Clayton Moore’s Lone Ranger character was. Olyphant, like Moore, is tall & straight & strong. The Lone Ranger character demands unshakeable resolve. Olyphant’s lawman characters demonstrate that resolve routinely. I like Timothy Olyphant for the title role in the new Disney Lone Ranger movie.

  2. i always admired the L.R. but i hope the directors and actors make it a blockbuster hit.j.depp is tonto but who will play the mask man?glooney. pitt would make a good L.R. to. we need to bring good westerns back to the big screen.

  3. Actually im hoping the difference between the old Lone ranger shows and the new movie is the same as it was between “batman and robin” and “Batman Begins”…I’d love for the Lone Ranger to have that darker, more serious feel to it such as Batman Begins had, but not so violent or obscene that it ruins what the Lone Ranger was all about..

  4. Let’s hope the producers and writers did not listen to Johnny Depp saying that the Lone Ranger’s character should be a fool. It is not his character, nor is it Tonto’s. But, maybe it is Depp’s?

  5. Hey Guys,
    The Lone Ranger movie had Disney following a contract code as set down by Fran Striker as part of the purchase. Now don’t let this throw you off base and cry. If The Ranger is played well, rides dynamically, and handles that gun it’s a good start. To write this with correct and polite awareness to the Indian is paramount and quite possible. Let’s face it, Lonesome Dove was great, Dances with Wolves was great. If it is well written in spite of a squeaky clean ranger as Fran Striker lays down, it can be done. The Story Line is Paramount. Let’s do it adult style and take out all the so called funny stuff in “Zorro”( Worse in the second one) Sure he needs to fight the bad guys, but do it with intelligence. The Mask is important, Silver is important, Tonto is important in the story line. The plot, super important and should brielly do the ranger deaths and The Lone Ranger beginning and finding Silver only enough to connect well. We don’t need great details with this generation of viewers. We do need good visual images and let’s not chase “Cavendish ” this time. The Cliffhanger element should be considered as part of the movie. They are still popular to see. I’ts no big deal if The Lone Ranger does not pump guys full of holes to kill them. They can show it the right way. Too much killing these days and rough violence. Sure it’s popular, but NOT necessary to write in all the time. When was the last time you saw Batman really kill someone mercilessly? When did you see Supernan or Spiderman do it with a Gun?

  6. I think one of the reasons that Westerns haven’t been big box office draw is the fact that almost every western in the last 30 years has been (I hope I have my terms right) a Revisionist Western.

    In other words, rather than glorifying the rugged individual (a knight of the open range)who fights for justice where there is none, we get dirty, disfunctional saddle tramps.

    The only Westerns I can think of in 30 years that were also action films were Tombstone and Silverado.

    I think that a studio that got behind a western that was as kick-ass as Rio Bravo or Big Jake, and wasn’t trying to demystify the west would have a hit.

    But the next western will probably be a postmodern look at the psychological factors and social conditions od blah blah blah…

    The critics will love it and it wont sell many tickets.

    Hollywood needs to watch some Audie Murphy movies then go Wrath of Khan on the concepts.

  7. I agree with Seth. It won’t be anymore violent than Mask Of Zorro, which Rossio & Elliot wrote.

    In fact…I have some hopes for this (unless the writing team is booted off and rewritten; because then someone usually royally screws up the script) and I’ll quote Terry himself from the forums of Wordplayer (Elliot &Rossio’s site)

    We have a cool approach that we think might work.

    There is a western to be done that movie fans fave been waiting to see, I think, and as good as some of the recent westerns have been, they haven’t had that western thrill, sorry, hard to describe.

    Int’l friends may also want to check out some of thier articles and essays about screenwriting and the pros and cons of Hollywood as well. Very insightful.

  8. Hey rafa1215…The Lone Ranger isnt about “Blood,guts swearing,loose women,rasists,and all that crap.I hate it when movies try to tone films down in order to get a lower rating(thats just stupid),but I also hate when films add crap to make their films all tough n’bad.If the film tries to change the already existing character of the Lone Ranger I think it would ruin itself.Im sure there willl be plenty of violence in it,but Im looking foward to a Lone Ranger film and I DONT want to see it get messed up.

  9. Ethernz I don’t know if you call “Cutthroat Island” a pirate movie. I hope they make this a darker Lone Ranger. Blood, guts, swearing, loose women, politically incorrect, racist, etc..

    If they make a movie like that I’ll stand in line for it.

  10. This Lone Ranger remake has been on the horizon in the rumor mill for at least 2 years. I subscribe to a licensing magazine and they posted it as a definite at least that long ago. However, I do think that this can work if they infuse this movie with what made “Pirates” so good. Pure fun and unadulterated action! The problem is, the old west doesn’t have that kind of scope. I tend to disagree with the comment that Wild Wild West only succeeded on the merit that it had Will Smith in it. The reason it did so well was it put a lot of fun action and huge special effects into a western theme. Who knew they had gigantic steam powered spiders in the old west?! I’m wanting a Lone Ranger like that! I’m sure I won’t get it but I’d like to see it!

    Just my 2 cents.

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