It’s taken years to finally come together, but Disney at last seems to have a date for its Jerry Bruckheimer-produced take on The Lone Ranger, setting aside December 21, 2012 for the Gore Verbinski film.

Now, before UK readers go getting excited (or furious, depending on your feelings towards the movie), you might want to hold your horses as Deadline’s story on the announcement doesn’t specify whether that’s a worldwide date or just for the US. But given that most of the big Bruckheimer tent poles tend to arrive around the same time on both continents (heck, we got the latest Pirates film before the US), there’s a good chance.

But the date in America is a crowded one: Ang Lee’s Life of Pi adaptation is already scheduled for then alongside Judd Apatow’s Knocked Up spin-off and Phillip Noyce’s thriller Hunter Killer. Plus there’s the 800-pound dragon squatting on December 14 with The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey likely to still be earning well by the time the 21st rolls around.

Still, with Armie Hammer as the titular hero and Depp as sidekick Tonto (who, given the casting, will have a much more active role in the film than the TV series), it looks like Disney has confidence in the movie to perform before a frame of Justin Haythe’s script has been shot. Wonder if any of the films now facing off like duelling cowboys will blink?