Last week at the launch of Disney's upcoming slate, there was great excitement at the news that Johnny Depp would be playing Tonto in a forthcoming Lone Ranger film. And now The Sun is claiming that George Clooney will be playing the lead.
Now this is firmly to be filed under "rumour" at the moment - the quote comes from an unnamed source, and says that Clooney is "very keen" to play the Lone Ranger, and to work with Johnny Depp - which is a far cry from signed, sealed and delivered.
However, it would be credible for the following reasons:
- That square jaw.
- Clooney can do comedy - and could particularly play the straight man whose slightly pompous attitude is handily undermined by Depp.
- If Johnny Depp is the sidekick, who else are you going to cast as the lead?
- Clooney hasn't made a Western since making it big in Hollywood. And stars can only resist those hats for so long.
That said, this amounts to little more than speculation at the moment. Still, the idea of a Clooney-Depp pairing in an action-comedy is enough to make any cinemagoer a little weak at the knees - isn't it?