Filming was scheduled to start this fall for a December 21, 2012 release with Jerry Bruckheimer producing the potential franchise starter
THR says the halt is all due to budgetary issues, not creative differences. The studio is said to have given Verbinski a firm budget number but the director was none to pleased.
“Gore doesn’t want to budge for what he thinks a movie like this needs,” says one insider.
The iconic character's story begins among a group of Texas Rangers chasing down a gang of outlaws led by Butch Cavendish. The gang ambushes the Rangers, seemingly killing them all. One survivor (The Social Network's Armie Hammer) is found, however, by an American Indian named Tonto (Johnny Depp), who nurses him back to health.
The Ranger, wearing a mask and riding a white stallion named Silver, teams up with Tonto to bring the unscrupulous gang and others of that ilk to justice.
One concern for the studio, according to an insider, is that even though the film stars box office draw Depp the project is a western, and the genre is having some dark days, particularly in light of the recent poor showing of Cowboys & Aliens.
While budget numbers for Ranger are hazy, Disney already has a number of expensive projects in the can, or in the works, including John Carter ($250 million-plus) and Sam Raimi's The Wizard of Oz prequel Oz: The Great and Powerful.currently in production.
What does this mean to the relationship between Disney and Bruckheimer, which is already under strain due to its expensive nature and Bruckheimer’s cold streak (Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides aside)? And how does this affect the studio’s relationship with Depp, the star of several billion-dollar hits Not to mention Pirates of the Caribbean 5? Stay Tuned...
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