Pirates of the Caribbean and The Ring director Gore Verbinski has officially signed on to direct Johnny Depp in the much mooted big screen version of The Lone Ranger.
Depp has an overall deal at Disney, is just finishing work on a fourth Pirates movie, while he also recently starred in the billion dollar grossing Alice In Wonderland for the studio. They know his presence with the right director and material won't just make a hit movie, but a mammoth grossing one. As mundane as the two sequels to 'Pirates' were, they made a fortune at the box-office, and on the plus side this time there will be no Orlando Bloom.
As for The Lone Ranger, George Clooney has been linked with the role of the titular masked crime-fighter, with Depp playing Tonto. But it seems unlikely that Depp would play second fiddle, even to Clooney, so there may be a twist in the plot yet.
