comment #1

Kakihara says ...

To be honest, I'd have preferred a Depp Lone Ranger a lot more than John Carter and the Franco Oz thing.

comment #2

Rashad says ...

Well Robin Hood cost 200 million, and that was mostly location shooting and hundreds of extras and horses. I imagine Lone Ranger would have been something like that, rather than Cowboys and Aliens.

I'm disappointed, because Verbinski is one of the few directors who make legitimately good and fun adventure movies. First Bioshock can't get made because it's R rated and now this. Why would Disney want the crappy looking (and expensive) John Carter over a Verbinksi/Depp adventure makes no sense to me.

comment #3

kid PA says ...

I can only imagine if the entire, lined-out budget for this "$235 mil+" project was made publicly available online.

There has got to be enough fat in there to make Congress blush.

comment #4

Carl LaFong says ...

I heard it was a werewolf flick with Butch Cavendish or whatever baddie possessed by some Native American wolf-man spirit. Yes, seriously; Tonto was out for revenge and this was supposedly the origin of John Reid's silver bullets.

I'd welcome a straight telling of Lone Ranger, but this was just a bad idea from the word go...

comment #5

THE MovieBob says ...

@Rashad,

Because "Carter" is a swords n' sorcery flick with "based on the classic fantasy book" pedigree a'la LOTR, Narnia, etc; and those made money; whereas Westerns continue to NOT make money.

Also, didn't they greenlight this originally back BEFORE they knew Depp was coming back for more "Pirates" movies? Either way, terrific news - almost makes the just-announced "Austin Powers" revival go down a little smoother.

comment #6

Dave says ...

that budget does seem pretty ridiculous.

comment #7

scooterzz says ...

off topic but 'credit where due'...lex was right:

http://worldofwonder.net/2011/08/12/kristen_stewart_covers_w/

comment #8

Rashad says ...

Because "Carter" is a swords n' sorcery flick with "based on the classic fantasy book"

No one outside of modern geeks knows what John Carter is, and all the tropes spawned from have been done to death. And from the looks of the trailer. much better. It's remarkable how much the opening of it looks like Craig waking up in Cowboys and Aliens.

I'm sure whatever Verbinski and co. had in store, wasn't going to be a typical western. Something like a Pirates or Indiana Jones type. Rango was far from a conventional Western too.

comment #9

Gaydos says ...

It only takes three words to explain why this project hit the red light wall this week:

1) Cowboys
2) And
3) Aliens

comment #10

Storm Serge says ...

Are the Bruckheimer/Depp/Verbinski salaries considered part of the budget, or not? If so, doesn't that get them behind pretty quick?

comment #11

azmoviegoer says ...

I can't imagine that Bruckheimer/Verbinski/Depp don't either have a contract guaranteeing a certain number of minimum millions or a "pay or play" contract. So in the event this film goes completely south who will be the winners and who will be the losers in this scenario. Because that's is what America is increasingly becoming-a country distinctly made up of haves and have nots. The best part of being part of the haves is that no matter how bad things get-the film is cancelled, your company closes etc-you still get paid millions! In fact, in some cases you can actually be the person primarily responsible for running the company into ground, causing pensions to be lost and thousands to be unemployed and you get paid millions to walk away from it all. Awesome!. And not a moments sleep will be lost by the haves over the prospect of the now unemployed union workers counting on the income from this production to pay their mortgage, put food on their table etc. scrambling for new jobs in a state with one of the highest unemployment rates. So, in light of this, absolutely good riddance and all that.

comment #12

tate4 says ...

The Elliott/Rossio script is not the shooting script. Their script was rewritten by another writer. Rossio talks about this on his screenwriters blog.

comment #13

Kakihara says ...

Ok, so Cowboys and Aliens bombed. But then you decide it's more lucrative to keep betting on Prince of Persia meets Star Wars and Eragon if Raimi directed it, than Captain Jack in a Western? That makes no sense.

comment #14

Kakihara says ...

I mean, I could at least understand Dark Tower getting shit-canned, because it would've cost way too much for a Stephen King series which does not have the same following as LOTR or even The Da Vinci Code. And 'Madness could happen later if Del Toro proves himself with Pacific Rim. But, FFS, the last prominent Depp movie which significantly underperformed was Sweeney Todd, and only 'cus it was rated R. So Ranger should've at least been able to make its money back, even if it disappointed.

comment #15

Ray DeRousse says ...

A $200-250 million dollar budget seems ludicrous considering the property (a) is a western, (b) is based on a character that the under-25 set does not know or care about, and (c) is almost exclusively American, without any chance of appealing to foreign markets.

How do these studio execs get their jobs? A lottery??

comment #16

Kakihara says ...

Ray: "is almost exclusively American, without any chance of appealing to foreign markets. "

Captain America made money.

comment #17

BobbyLupo says ...

"And not a moments sleep will be lost by the haves over the prospect of the now unemployed union workers counting on the income from this production to pay their mortgage, put food on their table etc. scrambling for new jobs in a state with one of the highest unemployment rates."

AZ - you seem awfully worried about people that you clearly know absolutely nothing about. Suffice it to say, job insecurity is part-and-parcel to working in the film industry, everybody knows not to count on a job that's three months away (especially a questionable job with a $200 million budget); anybody who was already working the gig is high-profile enough to jump to another job fairly quickly (and their unemployment would be paid for by Disney as the most recent employer of record), and it's extremely doubtful they'd have been shooting in California at any rate.

comment #18

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comment #19

actionman says ...

a bruckheimer produced ANYTHING is gonna cost roughly $200 million, especially a big summer movie. their proposed budget isn't surprising in the slightest.

what is surprsing is that disney, after collecting the most money EVER for a pirates film, would balk at JB's next project, especially one that was going to star the biggest movie star in the world, and open itself up to a new franchise.

westerns DO make money and the recent ones -- True Grit, Open Range, 3:10 to Yuma -- were all profitable. The release of Jesse James doesn't count as it was butchered by WB.

Sure, C&A didn't do huge #'s but that was a genre-splicing effort, something with limited appeal overall.

A traditional western with big horse-drawn chase scenes and Depp doing his shtick would have been a big hit.

Bummer that this isn't happening bec I love Gore Verbinski.

Back in the day when I worked for THE BRUCK, this shit would NEVER HAVE HAPPENED. My how things have changed in 10 years.

comment #20

peterenwalter says ...

It isnt even the right movie for Walt Disney Think about that. A Million dollar movie set? A 250 million dollar or 18 million dollar movie set? It is probaly the most expesive movie ever.

comment #21

Dance Commander says ...

Last I looked the primaries here don't work for free. I'm sure Depp was going to walk away with 25 mil,miinimum. Bruck takes a hugh slice of pie and Verbinski probably walks away with 15-20 mil. They all have backend deals to be sure and before you know it Disney doesn't see dime one till it makes at least half a billion bucks. Cowboy/Alien flops on top of all this. Silly movie don't get dreenlit. Darn. Guess everyone can just role right into Pirates 5. Oh lord no.

comment #22

MDOC says ...

I'm in my mid 30s, westerns, for what it's worth, don't interest me or anyone my age I know. Sure the boomers love them, but they grew up watching westerns.
The only successful westerns are dark and gritty. I can't think of the last light western that made money, Maverick 16 years ago? And that had Mel Gibson at the top of his fame, plus it was good. A $200+ million Lone Ranger movie that (let's keep it real) probably won't be good? Good Luck.

Of course the same thing was said about Pirate movies.

comment #23

Eloi Wrath says ...

Carl LaFong: That supernatural element sounds absurd, but entirely believable in present-day Hollywood. Fits the Pirates template, I suppose.

actionman: Agreed, it does seem strange that they shitcanned what is surely a solid bet at least to break even, with Depp in there.

That said, budgets do seem to be arbitrarily thrown together these days. Something like How Do You Know can come to $120m, while District 9 cost $30m. No logic to it.

comment #24

erniesouchak says ...

Depp is pay or play (according to Deadline Hollywood), and he, Verbinski & Bruckheimer each get big cuts of the profits.

I came across "Donnie Brasco" on TV the other night, and it made me realize how long it's been since Depp was actually an actor instead of a caricature or cartoon.

I say 'Good riddance' to Lone Ranger.

comment #25

nbxzero says ...

"what is surprsing is that disney, after collecting the most money EVER for a pirates film, "

Sorry, actionman, but Dead Man's Chest in 2006 made more money than OST.

comment #26

Phatang! says ...

Justin Haythe is credited as the screenwriter, according to Nikki Finke. Because who doesn't want to see POTC meets REVOLUTIONARY ROAD?

comment #27

Krillian says ...

Anyone know of a script or script review online? The gigantically bloated budget feels like it's a place to hide numbers from other projects/disasters/embezzlements.

comment #28

actionman says ...

no it didnt -- OST is the biggest worldwide grossing pirates film -- it will pass DMC in the next few weeks.

comment #29

Jeffrey Wells says ...

Wells to Carl LaFong: You heard it's "a werewolf flick with Butch Cavendish or whatever baddie possessed by some Native American wolf-man spirit. Yes, seriously. Tonto was out for revenge and this was supposedly the origin of John Reid's silver bullets"?

That's astonishing, but you know what? It also sounds like something I'd pay to see. Especially if it was called The Lone Ranger vs. The Werewolf. Unless you're just saying "seriously" but you don't mean it and you're putting us all on.

I want Tonto to get bitten and become a werewolf himself. An army of werewolves in the Old West, out for the Lone Ranger's hide!

comment #30

Edward Havens says ...

I'm certain Disney isn't going to kill their golden geese. They'll work on the budget this week, find a way to get it down to $185m or so, and then trot Bruckheimer and Depp and Hammer and Verbinski out on to the stage during next week's D23 convention to announce the show is back on.

comment #31

a1 says ...

"That's astonishing, but you know what? It also sounds like something I'd pay to see. Especially if it was called The Lone Ranger vs. The Werewolf."

Excellent! Can they have Jonah Hill play Lou Costello? Because I'd rather see that movie than the one they were making.

comment #32

Eloi Wrath says ...

Deadline's already back-pedalling a bit, saying all parties still want it to happen and will likely return to the negotiating table soon. With the amount they must have already paid the principals, I too think it's unlikely they'll let it die completely.

comment #33

THE MovieBob says ...

@actionman:
"A traditional western with big horse-drawn chase scenes and Depp doing his shtick would have been a big hit."

But they weren't going to make a traditional western; they were going to make it some sort of exaggerated genre-mix project like "Pirates" was. Remember: The ONLY thing that's kept the "Lone Ranger" on Hollywood's "to-do" list in the modern era is that the masked-man angle lets you pitch it as "Cowboy Batman."

It's also worth keeping in mind that a lot of these big action projects are things Disney was setting up as part of their "win back the young male audience" push but BEFORE they bought Marvel - much less impetus to start shoring-up 'new' superhero brands now that they own several thousand already-established ones. You don't think Disney would LOVE to pop Depp into costume for one of those things and have him show up in "Avengers 2?" (He'd be a pretty terrific Doctor Strange, which is in the pipe...)

comment #34

Steven Kar says ...

"no it didnt -- OST is the biggest worldwide grossing pirates film -- it will pass DMC in the next few weeks."

I don't think so. I think OST will end its run with 1.04 billion worldwide, which is impressive but still not as impressive as DMC which grossed more 5 years ago and without relying on the 3D surcharge.

comment #35

BobbyLupo says ...

On the assumption that Depp, Verbinski, and Bruckheimer are all "pay or play", what's their motivation for not signing on to a project like this, then demanding a budget that is excessive for the project, letting it fall apart, and walking away with all that money without having to do any actual work?

comment #36

BobbyLupo says ...

"I think OST will end its run with 1.04 billion worldwide"

There's an entire month of grosses from China that hasn't been reported yet. That alone (and there's other oddities in the foreign gross reporting, as always) will kick it over.

"without relying on the 3D surcharge."

I love when people throw that in, as if the studio counts that money differently, as if there's "grosses" and then "3-D grosses".

comment #37

actionlover says ...

Actionman is dead on about the budget.

Doesn't matter if it does or doesn't have special effects, elaborate sets, anything. It's a Bruckheimer-produced summer "blockbuster" tent pole movie. It could be about a guy reading the phone book and they'd find a way to make it cost 200 million dollars.

comment #38

Cadavra says ...

Breaking News: Julie Taymor has just signed to direct THE LONE RANGER.

Update: The budget is now $400 million.

comment #39

nbxzero says ...

actionman - DMC made almost twice what OST did domestically ($423 million to $239 million so far). OST might be the biggest POTC in the foreign market, but the fact that it didn't do better in the domestic market will most likely not get it past DMC's final worldwide total.

comment #40

Chicago48 says ...

Not interested no way no how. The only alternative is to turn it into a comedy and invite Ben Stiller to write it.

comment #41

BobbyLupo says ...

NBX - there's an assumption built into your point which is false. That assumption being, you're assuming that the current foreign total of OST is up-to-date. It is not up-to-date. Many of the numbers are, but China isn't.

Now, sure, that sounds like it might be grasping at straws. But if you look at the actual numbers, you'll see that China was, as of the report, the highest grossing of any individual country (besides the US). It made $70 million in about a month. Japan is the only other country (against, besides the US) that made more than that, and it had at least an extra month to do so.

Any way that you slice those numbers, it seems extremely unlikely that 'OST' won't get the extra $30 million it needs in foreign grosses. It's actually quite possible that it already has gotten them from China and the numbers just haven't been updated yet.

comment #42

Kakihara says ...

action: "what is surprsing is that disney, after collecting the most money EVER for a pirates film, "

Actually, part two grossed the most. Part 4 would've been a disappointment if not for the 3-D uptick. But it still made money, and I don't disagree that it's like Warner turning down a new book/movie deal with J.K Rowling.

"The release of Jesse James doesn't count as it was butchered by WB. "

Jesse James doesn't count, because it's not really a "Western" in the first place.

Dance Commander: Yeah, but POTC 5 is probably going to end up costing Disney more than Lone Ranger, simply because Depp didn't want to do it in the first place.

Edward: "I'm certain Disney isn't going to kill their golden geese."

Well, they did lose Lord of the Rings.

Lupo: "I love when people throw that in, as if the studio counts that money differently, "

Well, actually, they do, since they gotta pay for prints of it.

comment #43

Bob Violence says ...

NBX - there's an assumption built into your point which is false. That assumption being, you're assuming that the current foreign total of OST is up-to-date. It is not up-to-date. Many of the numbers are, but China isn't.

OST made 1.95 million RMB -- about $300,000 -- in the week of 6/27-7/3. The Chinese July grosses (I'm assuming July is the as-yet-unreported month) isn't going to push it over.

comment #44

Bob Violence says ...

Oh, also:

Japan is the only other country (against, besides the US) that made more than that, and it had at least an extra month to do so.

The movie opened on the same day (May 20) in China, Japan and the U.S.

And here's the source for the figures I mentioned earlier -- OST is at #9. The numbers in the chart have been divided by 10,000. You can see other weekly reports here, but note that OST drops completely out of the top 10 after the week of 6/27 (and therefore isn't listed anymore).

comment #45

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