The Lone Ranger is a popular movie starring Johnny Depp and it was released in 2013. Along with Depp, Armie Hammer plays the parallel lead. The movie was a Western action film, directed by Gore Verbinski and written by Justin Haythe, Ted Elliott, and Terry Rossio. The film tells the story through Tonto’s (Johnny Depp) memories of the combined efforts of him and John Reid, to remove local villains and maintain justice in the American Old West.
Along with the presence of the two highly talented actors, the budget of the movie was also an interesting point. Armie Hammer revealed in an interview how the inclusion of one person skyrocketed the film’s budget.
Johnny Depp’s The Lone Ranger team cast the yo-yo world champion for a trick
The movie produced in the present times with VFX and other effects are made with a very high budget. However, in the past also, some movies had massive budgets like The Lone Ranger reboot. However, it would be interesting to know, that a part of the budget was spent on acquiring a yo-yo world champion. Armie Hammer shared that the yo-yo world champion was cast for doing one trick with a pocket watch, however, he was paid a good amount for the film.
The actor shared,
“We were shooting [2013’s] Lone Ranger, and Tom Wilkinson had to do a thing where he pulls out a pocket watch and flips it, and it opens on his hand. It was a cool little trick. So because they had a borderline unlimited budget, they’re like, ‘Let’s bring in the yo-yo world champion.’ He was like, ‘That’s not a yo-yo.’ And they go, ‘Yeah, but can you help him do it?’ And he goes, ‘Yeah, you pull it out of your pocket and you do that.’ Tom goes, ‘Like this?’ Click. And he is like, ‘Yeah, just like that.’ And then he was with us for the rest of the movie.”
Even after the actor Tom Wilkinson learned the trick, the Disney team had to keep paying him for the entire duration of the shooting. The amount paid did not make much difference at the time because the set pieces only were very costly.
Johnny Depp’s The Lone Ranger box-office result
In The Hollywood Report round table with other stars, Armie Hammer talked about the big budget of the film. He did not reveal the price paid to the Yo yo champion for the heavy-budget film. The entire budget of Johnny Depp’s movie was $215 million and grossed $260 million worldwide. If we consider the cost of advertising and other bills after production, the film can be termed a box office failure.
The below-average performance of the movie had a massive impact on the director of the film. He took a break from high-range movies and started doing smaller projects.
The Lone Ranger is available for streaming on Disney+.
Source- Cinema Blend
