February 23rd, 2010 | 
Author: 
Despite reports to the contrary, director Mike Newell was never in talks to direct a Johnny Depp-starring adaptation of “The Lone Ranger.”
“They’ve never talked to me about ‘The Lone Ranger,’ ” Newell told MTV News recently.
But that doesn’t mean he’s not aware of the Disney project — Newell’s latest effort is the Disney-backed “Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time” — nor that he would turn it down if Jerry Bruckheimer came calling.
“I know it’s there,” he said of the “Ranger” property. “The thing that interested me was those two names — George Clooney playing the Lone Ranger and Depp playing Tonto. I thought that was a piece of casting so stuffed with wonderful comic possibilities, I remember saying to my agent, ‘Geez, if that’s what they want from it, boy would I kill for that.’”
Newell hastened to add that he’s unsure if Disney still has those two actors in mind and if the Clooney part of the duo was ever anything more than creative wishful thinking. The director did know, however, that Disney still hasn’t come up with a satisfactory version of the script. Indeed, Justin Haythe (“Revolutionary Road”) was recently hired to take another crack at it. But there’s no doubt that Newell would jump at the chance to helm “Ranger” if the right cast were in the mix.
“I think it would make a very, very funny movie if you had Johnny Depp and George Clooney,” he said.
Do you want to see a “Lone Ranger” movie? Is the Clooney/Depp pairing a good idea? Do you think it could even happen?
Posted in Theatre Movie