More like this
Depp to play Tonto in Lone Ranger remake
Pirates of the Caribbean team take on classic TV series with Johnny Depp as the wise Indian
The money-spinning double act behind the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise is to remake the 1950s classic TV show The Lone Ranger with Johnny Depp cast as the native American sidekick, Tonto.
According to a report on Deadline.com, Disney has confirmed that Pirates director Gore Verbinski and producer Jerry Bruckheimer have finally sealed a deal to begin work on the new film.
There’s no news yet as to who will don the black mask for the lead role, but a tip-off at Aint It Cool News has raised George Clooney as a possibility.
The Lone Ranger was most famously played by Clayton Moore, alongside Jay Silverheels as Tonto, in the much-loved TV series about a masked Texas Ranger who gallops around the Wild West putting injustice to right on his trusty white horse Silver (hence 'Hi, Ho, Silver').
Depp has made something of a career of putting his own spin on iconic characters, from channeling Keith Richards in Pirates's Captain Jack Sparrow to his idiosyncratic, if a little over-egged, depiction of the Mad Hatter in Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland.
Because Depp is part Cherokee, fans of the original can rest assured that Tonto won’t be crying 'Kemo Sabe' in a dodgy cockney accent. ·
Comments are now closed on this article
Comments
Johnny Depp as Tonto is brilliant casting if there ever was any!
The fact that he's part Cherokee to boot, is neat and will help silence the endless, boring nay-sayers, that never like anything or anyone. Vocal, talentless paparazzi that hate everything.
Good for Johnny Depp, he'll be fun and wonderful, and George Clooney will be a nice foil as the great Masked One! Another interesting twist would be George Straight, and he could croon a few tunes around the campfire on the trail of the bad guys.....
The Lone Ranger started its life as a radio serial (one of the first "Soap Operas" - sponsored by a soap powder) and the script called for the ranger to call for his horse by whistling. However the actor couldn't whistle! Hence "Hi Ho Silver!"