Looks that way. With a budget of 250 million.... what in the world would make a western budget of the Lone Ranger so much? Werewolves.
So why did Disney shut down The Lone Ranger last week? Because it cost almost $250 million. And how could a western possibly cost that much? Because it was being made by the same team who brought us the Pirates of the Caribbean movies, and they were borrowing from the same genre-bending playbook that had worked so well in resurrecting the swashbuckler genre.That's right: This Lone Ranger would have had supernatural elements in it, namely werewolves. Hollywood Elsewhere claims the original drafts of the script by the Pirates duo of Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio had werewolves in it inspired by those in Native American mythology. The site points out comments on this screenwriters' message board (a forum Elliott posts on) and included a scan of a script page that mentions werewolves.
"It was never going to be a semi-traditional western...it was never going to be Zorro," the board's mystery poster claims. "It was going to be a Tonto show mainly. Tonto as the top dog and more dominant than the Lone Ranger. Tonto and the Indian spirits like Obi Wan Kenobi and the force. The driving engine was going to be Native American occult aspects worked in with werewolves and special effects. But flavored with doses of Native American spirituality in a serious way."
The post continued, "But then Cowboys & Aliens came along and tanked and Disney got cold tenderfeet, spooked by the idea of a pricey mashup. If Cowboys & Aliens had made $200 million, this wouldn't be happening. A Bruckheimer-style western in the wake of Cowboys & Aliens is nothing anyone is feeling secure about at this stage."
Deadline updated their original report on the project's implosion with the following: "Everyone involved is still intent on the project and still in discussions to see what can be done. But the studio's concern is spending over $200M on a Western, even with Gore Verbinski and Johnny Depp and a comedic slant. So clearly Disney took drastic action. Now the studio and filmmakers are trying to figure out the next step, either to shop it elsewhere or put it back together at a later date at a lower budget."
Personally... if this is the reason... it shouldn't be the money. It should be the idea of werewolves in the Lone Ranger!!!!! I don't care if its in native american mythology or Santa decided to make mutant reindeer. That is the stupidest thing they could had thought of for this type of movie.
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