Johnny Depp - Johnny Depp's Lone Ranger Halted

Johnny Depp's Lone Ranger Halted

Production on Johnny Depp's next film 'The Lone Ranger' has been halted because it is too expensive to shoot.

Disney have decided to stop the movie, in which the actor was to play the Texas Ranger's Native American sidekick Tonto, after concluding its $250 million budget was too high.

According to Deadline.com, the studio was not prepared to spend more than $200 million on the project and had concerns a Western would be a huge box office success.

Filming had been scheduled to start on October 24 in New Mexico and as well as Depp the cast included Armie Hammer as the fictional heroic cowboy, English actress Ruth Wilson as the female lead and Gore Verbinski directing.

An insider said: "Let's see how it all shakes out. There's always a chance that it could go. You never know until you know."

Disney and the filmmakers will now discuss the future of the project, and the movie could be delayed and given a smaller budget or could be picked up by another studio.

The film had been based on the radio shows featuring the Lone Ranger character which aired in 1933 and the hugely popular 50s TV series.