Here’s a quick update from WB regarding their Summer 2013 release slate. The Hollywood Reporter tells us that the studio plans on kicking off Memorial Day Weekend by releasing The Hangover 3 on May 24th, 2013, with Todd Phillips returning to direct Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, and Zach Galifianakis once again. (No word on the plot just yet.)

300: Battle of Artemesia, the long-gestating sequel to Zack Snyder’s 2006 hit, will open on August 2nd, 2013. That one features Eva Green, Rodrigo Santoro, Sullivan Stapleton, and is directed by Noam Murro.

And finally, fans of Guillermo del Toro will have to wait just a tiny bit longer to see his new action/monster movie Pacific Rim, since they’ve bumped it from May back to July 12th, 2013.

And we thought 2012 was going to be a big year. Aside from those mentioned above, the summer of 2013 will see releases of Star Trek 2, Man of Steel, Iron Man 3, The Lone Ranger, Fast Six, The Wolverine, and Robopocalypse. Better start saving your cash now – there are a ton of potentially great films in that list.

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Producer Jerry Bruckheimer today tweeted our first look at Johnny Depp and Armie Hammer in costume on the set of The Lone Ranger. In the film Hammer plays the title character and Johnny Depp plays the Ranger’s Native American companion Tonto.

The Lone Ranger is currently shooting under the direction of Gore Verbinksi and also stars Ruth Wilson, Tom Wilkinson, Barry Pepper, Helena Bonham Carter, James Badge Dale and William Fichtner. Disney has set the release date for May 31, 2013.

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Before Disney pulled the brakes on The Lone Ranger in order to trim the budget British actress Ruth Wilson (Luthur) was in talks to play the female lead and Tom Wilkinson (Michael Clayton) was being eyed for the villain.

The movie eventually got the green light but with the start of filming delayed from October to February there could have been some scheduling issues preventing the actors from appearing. Luckily for Disney both are free, and Deadline reports that Wilson and Wilkinson will star in the film as originally planned.

The site also notes that Barry Pepper, Helena Bonham Carter, James Badge Dale and Dwight Yoakum are having their deals worked out, having been attached previously but not confirmed.

The Lone Ranger, which stars Armie Hammer as the title character and Johnny Depp as the Ranger’s Native American companion Tonto, is to be directed by Gore Verbinksi and will be released May 31, 2013.

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With The Lone Ranger budget trimmed and back on track Disney, producer Jerry Bruckheimer, and director Gore Verbinski are now aiming to begin filming in February with Armie Hammer as the title character and Johnny Depp as the Ranger’s Native American companion Tonto.

In a new interview Bruckheimer revealed it was “a shock” when Disney halted production back in August, but the team have now reduced the budget to $215m from $260m with most scenes left intact, so as to compete with the “fierce” competition.

From THR:

How did you do it?
…we bunched the sequences that were big together, and for the smaller scenes [we] laid off the extras, the effects people, the makeup people. It costs an enormous amount with 150 extras on the set. It’s not the extras, it’s the people that support the extras. You’re still carrying all the wardrobe, makeup and hair people. We bunched together scenes with Tonto and the Lone Ranger, so we had a much smaller crew. We saved about $10 million just by doing that.

Then we looked for the best break in tax incentives. We found that Louisiana gave us a better tax incentive than New Mexico — that was another $8 million. We’re still shooting in New Mexico, and we might [also] go to Louisiana.

Did you have to lose sequences from the script? There was talk that some train sequences were cut back.
We cut a sequence involving a coyote attack — supernatural coyotes — and a small animated segment. The train [scenes] are intact. We trimmed it a little bit. Gore made some sacrifices creatively, but nothing that would hurt the film.

Disney would have much preferred us cutting stuff out of the script. But the competition is fierce. You can’t compete with The Hobbit, you can’t compete with Transformers if you do that. The audience will stay home.

Because you missed your original start date, how do you feel about Disney moving the release from December 2012 to May 31, 2013?
It’s a better date. Before, we were up against The Hobbit and World War Z. Now we’re a week after Fast and Furious and a couple weeks before Superman. The competition is not as bad. There are a lot of movies jammed in at Christmas. In the summer, you have a longer run. You’re cut off after the first of the year on a Christmas release.

As well as Depp and Hammer, The Lone Ranger will also feature Ruth Wilson, Dwight Yoakam, Helena Bonham Carter, James Badge Dale and Barry Pepper.

Bruckheimer also said they were at “the outline phase” with Pirates of the Caribbean 5, but “decided we could do better” with the script, so re-writes will likely take place before it moves forward. I felt the script for On Stranger Tides was pretty weak, so improving the next film (which is coming whether we like it or not) will be better for everyone.

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With The Lone Ranger budget trimmed Disney, producer Jerry Bruckheimer, and director Gore Verbinski are now aiming to begin filming in February. The delay in production has rendered the December 2012 release date impossible, so Disney has pushed The Lone Ranger back to summer 2013, and to make room they’ve pushed the Thor sequel back to later in the year.

The Lone Ranger, which stars Armie Hammer as the title character and Johnny Depp as the Ranger’s Native American companion Tonto, will now be released May 31, 2013, which is a week before Fast Six. As well as Depp and Hammer, the movie will also feature Dwight Yoakam, Helena Bonham Carter, James Badge Dale and Barry Pepper.

With Disney now in charge of Marvel’s slate it wouldn’t be wise to have multiple tentpoles in the summer of 2013. Iron Man 3 is already set for May 3rd, so to avoid overcrowding Disney has pushed Thor 2 back from July 13, 2013 to November 15, 2013. Having The Lone Ranger as a summer film makes most sense given that it carries a higher financial risk, and a big-budget Depp movie usually pulls in the summer crowds.

Thor is already a proven franchise, so it shouldn’t have too much of a problem with a late-2013 release. It’s only competition so far is Catching Fire, the second film in The Hunger Games saga. No director has been hired, but Patty Jenkins is the likely contender.

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After Disney pulled the brakes on The Lone Ranger last month due to budget concerns producer Jerry Bruckheimer and director Gore Verbinski tried to bring the budget down from $250m to $215m, while still trying to keep enough spectacle to attract worldwide audiences and earn sequels.

We previously heard that Johnny Depp wouldn’t make the movie without his Pirates of the Caribbean director, putting pressure on Disney to agree on a budget, but it looks like things have been worked out and filming could take place early next year.

From Deadline:

I’m hearing that the studio is likely to have everything resolved by next week, and can start rehiring crew so that the picture will be ready to begin production in January or February. How that late start impacts the Dec. 21, 2012 release date remains to be seen, but Johnny Depp will get to play Tonto (Disney wouldn’t make the movie without him), and Armie Hammer will be back in as the title character. Ruth Wilson, the scene-stealing killer from Idris Elba’s British cop series Luther, is also expected back as the female lead.

The Lone Ranger was originally looking to shooting in October in New Mexico, which will offer the studio tax breaks. While production has been delayed it could still shoot there, but the December 21, 2012 release date will probably be pushed back to summer 2013 or later. As well as Depp and Hammer, the movie is also set to star Dwight Yoakam, Helena Bonham Carter, James Badge Dale and Barry Pepper.

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Last month Disney put the brakes on The Lone Ranger, the classic western which has The Social Network actor Armie Hammer playing the title character and Johnny Depp playing the Ranger’s Native American companion Tonto. The studio wanted to trim the budget down from $275m to around $200m as westerns generally don’t perform well overseas, and with DVD sales declining it would have to make 3x its budget back at the worldwide box office to be worthwhile.

Now Deadline has an update on the project, and they say Johnny Depp won’t make the movie without his Pirates of the Caribbean and Rango director Gore Verbinski, which means Disney can’t simply replace Verbinski for another (cheaper) director without losing their box office draw.

Apparently Verbinski “won’t take the budget down to a certain point where it’s not the same movie that he started out to make”, and he will soon be presenting Disney with a new budget “in the $215m range” with producer Jerry Bruckheimer. That’s still above the $200m the studio wanted, but if they lose Verbinski they lose Depp as well.

The reason for such a high budget in the first place was said to be due to the inclusion of CGI-heavy werewolves and other supernatural creatures from Native American myths. Those have apparently been cut now, but the script still includes three big action set pieces involving trains, including one described as “the biggest train sequence in film history.” Disney will be wanting the film to have enough spectacle to attract worldwide audiences and earn sequels, but a budget over $200m is a risk.

The Lone Ranger was looking to shooting in October in New Mexico, which will offer the studio tax breaks. Whether these budget issues delay production remains to be seen, but the studio may still aim to meet the December 21, 2012 release date. As well as Depp and Hammer, the movie is also set to star Ruth Wilson, Dwight Yoakam, Helena Bonham Carter, James Badge Dale and Barry Pepper.

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Variety is reporting that Disney is having budget issues with The Lone Ranger, the classic western which has The Social Network actor Armie Hammer playing the title character and Johnny Depp playing the Ranger’s Native American companion Tonto. The studio apparently wants to “trim the film’s escalating budget to get it closer to the $200 million that Disney was looking to spend to make the movie”.

THR earlier reported that production had been halted, with the studio wary about producing a big-budget western following the poor box office performance of Cowboys and Aliens. However Variety insists the project “is far from dead at the studio”, and Disney and producer Jerry Bruckheimer are “trying to rein in the costs of the actioner before the price to produce the pic gallops away from them.”

The Lone Ranger, which has Pirates of the Caribbean‘s Gore Verbinski as director, was looking to shooting in October in New Mexico, which will offer the studio tax breaks. Whether these budget issues delay production remains to be seen, but the studio may still aim to meet the December 21, 2012 release date.

As well as Depp and Hammer, the movie is also set to star Ruth Wilson, Dwight Yoakam, Helena Bonham Carter, James Badge Dale and Barry Pepper.

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Heat Vision reports that Helena Bonham Carter, Dwight Yoakam and Barry Pepper are all in talks to join Johnny Depp in Gore Verbinski’s The Lone Ranger.

Helena Bonham Carter, currently seen in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2, will play “the madam of a brothel who deals with gentlemen and scoundrels.” Dwight Yoakam (Crank: High Voltage) will play Butch Cavendish, leader of the gang that attacks the ranger and leaves him for dead, while Barry Pepper, Emmy-nominated for his turn as Bobby Kennedy in The Kennedys, will act as a military officer.

Disney will be releasing The Lone Ranger on December 21, 2012. The Social Network actor Armie Hammer will play the title character, with Johnny Depp playing the Ranger’s Native American companion Tonto.

Filming is scheduled to begin in mid-October in Texas and New Mexico.

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According to Deadline British actress Ruth Wilson is in talks to play the female lead in Disney’s The Lone Ranger.

No details on the role have been released, although she is thought to be playing a character called Rebecca. Jessica Chastain (The Tree of Life) and Abbie Cornish (Limitless) were also up for the role, but Disney eventually entered talks with Wilson who was nominated for a Golden Globe for her role in the miniseries Jane Eyre, and was most recently seen in BBC’s crime drama Luther opposite Idris Elba.

Disney will be releasing Gore Verbinski’s The Lone Ranger on December 21, 2012. The Social Network actor Armie Hammer will play the title character, with Johnny Depp playing the Ranger’s Native American companion Tonto.

Filming will begin later this year after Depp has finished work on Tim Burtons Dark Shadows.

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