Merrick here...
Dwight Yoakam had been set to appesar as a villain against Armie Hammer's John Reid/"Lone Ranger" and Johnny Depp's Tonto in next year's Gore Verbinski-directed film.
Per Deadline, Yoakam dropped out of the production due to scheduling conflicts - now William Fichtner is in. Fichtner played the bank manager in THE DARK KNIGHT, a spacship commander in ARMAGEDDON, appeared in television's PRISON BREAK and ENTOURAGE, and recently wrapped Neill Blomkamp's ELYSIUM.
Originally conceived for radio back in the early 1930s, The Lone Ranger was the impetus for a shitty television movie back in 2003, and hasn't been seen on the big-screen since 1981's big-but-dull THE LEGEND OF THE LONE RANGER - which was directed by legendary cinematographer William A. Fraker. Then character is, probably, most closely associated with the long running television series (1949-1957) which starred Clayton Moore and Jay Silverheels in the roles now inhabited by Hammer and Depp.
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