Variety reports that The Social Network's Armie Hammer has won the titular lead role in The Lone Ranger.
Gore Verbinski's re-imagining of the classic property Western, which eventually became a TV and film staple, will also star Johnny Depp as Tonto. It'll be a different spin on the endeared American tale; in this new version, you'll see Tonto taking the lead, instead of always listening to what the Texas Ranger's commands.
Depp is looking to turn the show's past cultural insensitivity towards Native Americans "on its head," and with Hammer and Verbinski down for the ride this could wipe the memory of those Zorro movies from our collective memories. The Long Ranger is the latest major studio project for the 24-year-old rising film star. He's currently hammering filming his role as Clyde Tolson in the Clint Eastwood-directed J. Edgar Hoover biopic J. Edgar (starring Leonardo DiCaprio), and after that he's set to play the prince in the Kristen Stewart/Charlize Theron-led fairy tale retelling of Snow White.
[Via /Film]
