When Disney pulled the plug on its expensive Lone Ranger project, which was to reunite Pirates of the Caribbean cohorts Johnny Depp, Jerry Bruckheimer, and Gore Verbinski, a few industry-watchers held out hope that the studio and the filmmakers would yet still reach an agreement over how many hundreds of millions of dollars the would-be franchise would cost. Almost exactly two months later, it seems they’ve reached that compromise. More stupid money for someone!
From Deadline:
On Lone Ranger, there has been a lot of behind-the-scenes drama as the three principal players made concessions in their deals, and worked on the script to salvage the spectacle that made the movie worth making in the first place while bringing the budget down to a more manageable figure in the $215 million range.
So, not quite the affordable $200 million that Disney reportedly initially wanted, but definitely less costly than the $250 million or more that the production was threatening to cost. $215 million makes it ever so cheaper than all but the last three Pirates movies, which cost a reported $225M (2006’s Dead Man’s Chest), $300M (2007’s At World’s End), and $250M (2011’s On Stranger Tides).
It remains to be seen if any further drastic creative changes will be implemented, especially given that naysayers took license at August’s project-halting announcement to blast certain rumored fantastical elements in the script which I won’t spoil here. Consider that a free litmus test, Disney.
Deadline’s Mike Fleming thinks it unlikely for Lone Ranger’s initial December 2012 release date to stand, which solves at least one of the five challenges the project faces which Movieline Full Story »
For comics and cultural critics of virtually every color and persuasion, Tyler Perry is the textbook definition of an easy target: A mogul whose media empire rests atop a foundation of alleged minstrelsy, union-busting, cross-dressing, bad hit television and mass-produced screen melodrama. Add his recently disclosed $130 million annual earnings to the picture, and it’s like the target was moved within inches of its respective shooters — one of whom, perhaps obviously, was Saturday Night Live.
Still: Not bad! Kenan Thompson played the writer-director-producer-actor-studio baron in Saturday’s “Weekend Update” segment, during which Seth Meyers reminded him that he beat out the likes of Steven Spielberg and Jerry Bruckheimer for the honors of highest-paid entertainer in showbiz. “I did, I did,” Perry replies. “But keep in mind that those men are Jewish and are at a traditional disadvantage in Hollywood.” And the kicker, again responding to Meyers: “My movies are about the modern black experience. They’re all disaster movies.” And how about that title for his next film? I mean, it’s probably not far from the real title. I’ll be there with bells on.
Anyway, how long before Perry hosts SNL? It has to happen eventually, right?
Full Story »Director Rob Marshall, whose Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides will open in glorious, cinematic, completely enjoyable 3-D, explained at Cannes how he learned the art of 3-D. “I did a little class over at Sony. I needed to distill it down to something simple for myself. It’s complicated, but I grasped the basic elements and, of course, you learn as you go.” Does that sound less than confident for someone helming a trillion-dollar Disney coloring book movie? Because I took a little class to be a good babysitter once. I did not succeed. [THR]
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Speaking to journalists Thursday in Beverly Hills, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides superproducer Jerry Bruckheimer was guarded as ever where details of a fifth Pirates were concerned. But at least he was honest about what it’ll take for Disney to officially give the green light. “If it makes them a lot of money, it’s a success. And hopefully it makes them a lot of money.” Something tells us the radical idea Johnny Depp shared for filming Pirates 5 and 6 won’t exactly fly.
Before dropping his Pirates of the Caribbean 5 and 6 bombshell, Depp gamely cycled through the usual press junket queries and addressed a journalist’s claim that he once swore his movies would never make any money. “It’s not my fault,” Depp said, eliciting laughter from the audience. “I did my best… the fact that people want to see a movie I’m in is the most shocking thing ever.”
The irony that Depp has become one of the biggest stars on the planet, perhaps in spite of his own desire for stardom, wasn’t lost on anyone. The Pirates franchise is testament to that fact; having raked in over $2 billion worldwide in three films. On Stranger Tides, the fourth film in the series, rides solely on the charms of Depp’s beloved Captain Jack Sparrow — no other stars necessary.
But that stardom also puts Depp in high demand for other non-Pirates projects, which might complicate his shooting schedule in the near future.…
Full Story »He’s 6’5”, 220 pounds, and there’s… one of him! According to Deadline, The Social Network’s Armie Hammer has been tapped for Gore Verbinski’s The Lone Ranger, in which he’ll play the titular Old West masked crusader opposite Johnny Depp as Tonto. After the film’s long and winding road to development, Hammer marks the last major piece of the HR puzzle although Disney and producer Jerry Bruckheimer have yet to find the requisite love interest and villain. Any ideas as to who’d make a good foil to both Hammer’s stoic All-American boyishness and Depp’s worldly swagger? [Deadline]
Full Story »Johnny Depp, Penelope Cruz, Geoffrey Rush, and Jerry Bruckheimer chime in on this new featurette for Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End. They answer your most pressing questions: Did this movie cost $500 billion? Did this franchise turn into a pirate-themed miniature golf course in roughly 2009? Might we really be at world’s end? Why will I definitely see this in theaters? Or: none of those.
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· Well hey, here’s your first look at Katie Holmes as Peggy from the new season of Mad Men Jackie Kennedy for the new History Channel miniseries, The Kennedys.
· Jeremy Piven is back to sushi-eating, though it’s still troublesome for him: the actor dropped his cell phone in a toilet at the Chicago restaurant Sunda this week.
· Can’t onscreen werewolves and vampires get along? Television Without Pity investigates.
· Dolly Parton got a little jiggly on Good Morning America today.
· Pajiba claims that the Facebook app Mafia Wars will be made into a movie. Wake me when they attach Jerry Bruckheimer to “Free iPad Event — Here’s How!”
