Mike Fleming

BREAKING: Disney has confirmed that the Gore Verbinski-directed Johnny Depp-starrer The Lone Ranger has come back on track, with the studio setting the film for a May 31, 2013 release. As Deadline revealed yesterday, the film will begin production February 6. The film was originally supposed to get underway this fall for a December 21, 2012 release, but all that changed when Disney shocked Hollywood by unplugging the film over fears that its budget could reach $275 million. Deadline revealed that news exclusively on August 12. It was a surprising move, considering that Bruckheimer is a cornerstone producer and Depp has starred in the studio’s highest-grossing films, with both of them teaming with Verbinski on the first three installments of The Pirates Of The Caribbean.

Verbinski, producer Jerry Bruckheimer and Depp rose to the challenge, though, even though it was a painful one. They reworked their compensation deals and figured out ways to save money in the production budget. They brought the budget down to a figure that is around $215 million, I’m told. Taking responsibility to bring the film in for that price was the only way that the studio was going to make the film. Considering that most Westerns don’t travel overseas as well as some other genres (Cowboys & Aliens has proven to be an offshore disappointment), The Lone Ranger is still a big bet by a studio that is backing John Carter, a film that costs more than $250 million, and Oz The Great And Powerful, which hovers at around $200 million. At least now, Disney’s risk on The Lone Ranger has been contained. The studio made that work with Bruckheimer before on films like Pearl Harbor, where Bruckheimer, director Michael Bay and Ben Affleck all waived fees until the studio broke even. All of them made big money on the backend. Nobody will lose here if The Lone Ranger turns out to be as big a hit as Depp’s recent tent pole efforts. Two of the Pirates films grossed over $1 billion and so did Alice in Wonderland. And The Tourist‘s lackluster $67 million domestic gross was boosted by a $211 million overseas gross.

Disney has also moved Thor 2 from its July 13, 2013 and back to November 15, 2013, and also dated Phineas And Ferb to open July 26, 2013.