With big action set pieces, over the top storytelling and Tom Wilkinson giving voice over, the latest spot for Disney’s The Lone Ranger is strengthening the case for the film being one of the must watch movies of Summer. While there were huge question marks around the original script for the film (it involved werewolves) to budget (the film was stopped before they started to figure out how to make the movie cheaper), Gore Verbinski’s first Pirates of the Caribbean movie was also a big question mark when it was in production. No one at Disney knew what Johnny Depp was doing (they trust him now), that film was over budget, and the experiment to making other Disney rides into movies was flopping. But Pirates ended up being an unexpected hit for Disney and The Lone Ranger appears to have the same low expectations after it had such a rough go of it even before getting into production. I’m not a box-office trend analyst, but if this movie hits I wouldn’t be surprised to see a run on westerns based on the demand created by it and Django Unchained, much in the same way Unforgiven caused a spate of westerns in the ’90’s.

The press release from Disney:

From producer Jerry Bruckheimer and director Gore Verbinski, the filmmaking team behind the blockbuster “Pirates of the Caribbean” franchise, comes Disney/Jerry Bruckheimer Films’ “The Lone Ranger,” a thrilling adventure infused with action and humor, in which the famed masked hero is brought to life through new eyes.  Native American spirit warrior Tonto (Johnny Depp) recounts the untold tales that transformed John Reid (Armie Hammer), a man of the law, into a legend of justice—taking the audience on a runaway train of epic surprises and humorous friction as the two unlikely heroes must learn to work together and fight against greed and corruption.

“The Lone Ranger” also stars Tom Wilkinson, William Fichtner, Barry Pepper, James Badge Dale, Ruth Wilson and Helena Bonham Carter.

A Disney/Jerry Bruckheimer Films presentation, “The Lone Ranger” is directed by Gore Verbinski and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and Gore Verbinski, with screen story by Ted Elliott & Terry Rossio and Justin Haythe and screenplay by Justin Haythe and Ted Elliott & Terry Rossio. “The Lone Ranger” releases in U.S. theaters on July 3, 2013.