Pirates of the Caribbean 5 Reveals Plot Details, Loses Their Release Date

If you’ve ever hear the term, “beating a dead horse”, it was probably immediately followed by a review of Pirates of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. Despite grossing just over $1 billion, critics condemned the movie as Rotten Tomatoes burned it at the stake. Meanwhile back at Disney headquarters, a group of people were counting money and laughing their asses off. The laughter may have finally come to a halt.

Disney’s Lone Ranger and Depp’s Tonto Revealed!

After a few delays and moaning and groaning about an overinflated budget, Disney’s Lone Ranger movie is finally making headway. Sure, we knew that filming was underway but now we have our first glimpse into the movie by way of a photo of the Lone Ranger himself and his faithful companion Tonto. Tonto as you probably heard about a million times is being played by Johnny Depp, who has a penchant for the ridiculous ever since bringing the world Jack Sparrow, possibly one of the best on-screen characters in recent memory behind Heath Ledger’s Joker in the Dark Knight. So, without further adieu, here is the picture:

And yup, Johnny Depp is there in all of his ridiculous glory. Though I must say that this version of Tonto is way better than what could have been if they had stuck with the old TV show version of the sidekick. I’m actually hoping they change it up a little bit in the movie and make Tonto not so much a sidekick, but perhaps the Lone Ranger’s mentor or something more useful. Of course there is only this picture and no details on anything else, so everything including what I just typed is all speculation at this point. This official film synopsis is all we have to go on thus far:

“The Lone Ranger” is a thrilling adventure infused with action and humor, in which the famed masked hero is brought to life through new eyes. Native American spirit warrior Tonto (Johnny Depp) recounts the untold tales that transformed John Reid (Armie Hammer), a man of the law, into a legend of justice—taking the audience on a runaway train of epic surprises and humorous friction as the two unlikely heroes must learn to work together and fight against greed and corruption.

I have to say I was never really thrilled with the Lone Ranger, it’s definitely a franchise that needs updating to make it more intriguing to modern audiences including myself, but look at what they’ve done with a literary classic like John Carter. The movie isn’t out yet but all of the clips shown thus far promise us at least an entertaining movie going experience. I’m also faithful that Pirates director Gore Verbinski will be helming the movie because aside from the story of the third Pirates of the Caribbean movie being utterly convoluted he still has a knack for giving us a very aesthetically pleasing movie. It was almost a given he could only give us two out of three good Pirates movies. Let’s hope the cycle doesn’t repeat with the Lone Ranger being a certified hit that spawns mediocre sequels.

Now comes the wait for the first trailer and more than likely a slew of production and set photos before that. I’m not overly excited for the Lone Ranger movie, but I am cautiously optimistic. Most of that is to see exactly what Depp has done with the Tonto character and to see if he outshines the main character as Depp normally tends to do when he’s not the leading man.

Bruckheimer & The Rock to Bring 80’s Wrestling to NBC?

In the 1980s, the world of pro wrestling saw some of its greatest matches, and an unbelievable rise in popularity. With stars like Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage, Ricky “the Dragon” Steamboat, Bret Hart, and Rowdy Roddy Piper – the 80s brought larger than life figures into the squared circle.

To commemorate this time in the world of sports entertainment, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Jerry Bruckheimer are teaming up as executive producers on a show for NBC that will capture all the drama of the world of pro wrestling in the 1980s.

Not much information has been released yet about the content of the show, but with Jerry Bruckheimer teaming up with a third generation pro wrestling legend, I can only imagine we’re all in for a treat.

Despite my negative feelings for ‘The Rock’, I have all the faith in the world that he will do this great time period in pro wrestling great justice. The Rock not only grew up an avid wrestling fan, but also in the world of pro wrestling watching his father and grandfather compete, so he has seen the evolution of the business take place. I would love to see some guest commentary on classic matches from the wrestlers themselves, and maybe even from Vince McMahon himself.

Time will only tell what we are in for with this program, but The Rock does have a history of giving the fans what they want, and I cannot see this being any different!

Disney’s The Lone Ranger…. Dead or Alive?

Not too long ago the Lone Ranger’s plug was pulled by Disney due to budget concerns. And by concerns I mean the film’s $250 million dollar budget. Right now I’m not even wondering whether or not the film will be made, I’m too busy wondering what in the hell could cost 250 mil in a movie about the Lone Ranger. Was there going to be a thousand horses in it? Cowboys and Aliens only had a $163 million budget (Box Office Mojo) and there were effin’ aliens in it and a cowboy with a wrist-blaster!

Apparently these are some of the things that were going to be in the movie via IGN:

THR says the werewolves and supernatural elements that were part of earlier drafts had already been removed from the script by the time Disney yanked the film, but that in its place are some hugely expensive railroad action sequences, set-pieces said to be the biggest train stunts ever planned. 

Director Gore Verbinski, who helmed the first three Pirates of the Caribbean films for Disney, is the one the studio deems responsible for bringing down the budget. If he can’t then one option is replacing him with a director who can and/or reconceiving the project on a cheaper scale. Verbinski is said to have only reduced the $250 million budget by $6-8 million; Disney wants the budget at anywhere from $200-220 million, still a steep sum for a western based on a character that’s really only known to older audiences.

I never would have imagined that werewolves and railroad action scenes could cost so much. And I find it very interesting that Disney is placing the budget responsibilities on Gore Verbinski and effectively tying his hands. I mean the guy only brought them a couple billion dollars in from the Pirates of the Caribbean movies. You’re welcome Disney!

I’m sure about $50 million would be going to Johnny Depp who would have been playing Tonto, the Lone Ranger’s Native American sidekick. Am I the only one who sees this casting move as borderline retarded? Johnny Depp…. as a Native American named Tonto. Good gravy you suck Disney! Even Jay Silverheels who played Tonto in the 50’s was a Canadian First Nation and he made that shit work! I can see Disney having misgivings about the Lone Ranger since they’ve already got an obscure character coming to the theater in the form of John Carter. And by obscure I mean no one under the age of 27 knows much besides the names of these characters.  I think John Carter is more of a for sure thing as a sci-fi movie than the Lone Ranger as a western, so perhaps they’ll try to build off that success. Either way I’m not disappointed at all by the news of it’s possible demise.

What does everyone else think? Would a Lone Ranger movie be any good? Is it still going to happen? The Mask of Zorro was a decent movie based off a masked character from that same era. I just can’t get enthused about it, but I hope there are some pro-Ranger fans out there so let your voice be heard! Or at least some Depp fans….

Pirates of the Caribbean 5: Yeah, I said 5

Pirates of the Carribean: On Stranger Tides hasn’t even made it into theaters yet and we’ve already been hit with this recent news from Yahoo!:

Johnny Depp’s tour guide on his “Pirates of the Caribbean” voyages is plotting the course for a fifth installment even before the fourth movie sails into theaters.

Producer Jerry Bruckheimer says he has a screenplay in the works for a fifth “Pirates” tale after May’s “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides” comes out.