Although this week’s release of Walt Disney Pictures’ The Lone Ranger brings with it all the action you’d expect from the Pirates of the Caribbean team of leading man Johnny Depp, director Gore Verbinski and producer Jerry Bruckheimer, the film also explores some less conventional qualities of the western genre like the balance between fact and legend and the endurance and necessity of pop iconography.
In the below interview, Depp and Verbinski discuss some of the surprising inspirations from which they drew their take on the 80-year-old legend, including Miguel de Cervantes’ “Don Quixote,” John Ford’s The Man who Shot Liberty Valance and, as one of the inspirations for Tonto, Depp’s own co-star Gary Farmer in Jim Jarmusch’s surreal 1995 western Dead Man.
Depp also speaks out about why it means so much for him to play a Native American hero and the modern day relevance that he hopes audiences will be able to draw from the film itself.
Starring Armie Hammer in the title role with a supporting cast that includes Tom Wilkinson, William Fichtner, Barry Pepper, Ruth Wilson, James Badge Dale and Helena Bonham Carter, The Lone Ranger arrives in theaters with 7:00pm shows on Tuesday, July 2nd. Check back soon with ComingSoon.net for video interviews with Bruckheimer and the rest of the cast!
