In spite of the fact that star Johnny Depp, director Gore Verbinski, and producer Jerry Bruckheimer have made billions for Disney with their Pirates of the Caribbean films (3 out of the 4 Disney movies that have earned over a billion dollars were Pirates movies), the Mouse House has abruptly shut down production on the trio’s attempt to revive The Lone Ranger franchise.  Casting was well-advanced on the Depp/Verbinski Lone Ranger movie (see “Ruth Wilson Joins The Lone Ranger”), which was set to start shooting in October, but the filmmakers were resisting the studio’s attempts to bring the budget down from $250 million to $200 million, so Disney pulled the plug even though the studio risks alienating Depp and thus putting another Pirates movie, which the studio really wants, in jeopardy.

Every big success in Hollywood breeds imitations—after the Twilight movie was a hit every studio was looking for YA romance bestsellers with supernatural elements.  But conspicuous failures can also have a major effect in Tinseltown.  The disappointing debut of Jon Favreau’s Cowboys & Aliens has contemporary studio moguls running scared from any project with even the faintest whiff of oats.  According to The Hollywood Reporter one inside source explained about the studio's pulling the plug on The Lone Ranger, “The fact that it’s a Western is a definite concern.” 

Of course there is a possibility that The Lone Ranger project could be resurrected, if not at Disney at another studio, but that is not very likely in today’s increasingly uncertain economic times with box office revenues down and DVD revenues sinking like a stone.  Disney has a number of risky big dollar projects in production already. Andrew Stanton’s John Carter looks like it will  end up costing between $250 and $300 million and Sam Raimi’s The Great and Powerful Oz has a budget in the $200 million range.  Universal recently pulled the plug on Guillermo Del Toro’s At the Mountains of Madness even though Tom Cruise was attached, and then turned around and axed Ron Howard’s ultra-ambitious three film, two TV series adaptation of Stephen King’s The Dark Tower (see “Universal Abandons the Dark Tower”).

The Lone Ranger was slated to debut on December 21st, 2012, the same day that the Brad Pitt-starring zombie epic World War Z opened and just seven days after Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey bowed.  Even if The Lone Ranger project is revived, at least there is no way it could debut during that particular highly competitive holiday season.  It’s hard to imagine that the thought of having their expensive oater going up against a fantasy powerhouse and a zombie epic didn’t figure in Disney’s decision to torpedo The Lone Ranger.