Articles from June 2012



THE LONE RANGER shifts filming to Moab, Utah

Gore Verbinski’s The Lone Ranger, starring Johnny Depp as Tonto and Armie Hammer as the Ranger, has galloped out of the beautiful mountains around Creede, Colorado, and will now be filming in the stunning red rock landscapes of Moab, Utah. According to a press release from the Utah Bureau of Land Management, the production “involves 200+ people” and will be shooting in the Moab area “for over 54 days. Locations include White Wash Sand Dunes, Amasa Back Trail, and several other areas around Moab.” In fact, the Amasa Back Trail was closed today, June 29th, for filming.

A 54-day filming schedule will keep the production in Utah well into August. The Zone thanks FANtasticJD for sharing the news; you can read more about The Lone Ranger on the Zone’s News & Views forum.

Disney spokesman on THE LONE RANGER: “We couldn’t be happier with the work we’re seeing”

Rumors have been swirling for a couple of weeks that The Lone Ranger is over-budget and a bit behind schedule due to weather-related problems,but Dave Karger’s article in the current Entertainment Weekly (cover date June 29) called “Tentpoles in Trouble” deals mainly with “production woes” on Paramount’s World War Z zombie thriller starring Brad Pitt and with an overall nervousness on the part of major studios about production costs on all their prospective blockbusters after some spectacular failures this year. Studios have pushed back the release dates of The Lone Ranger and World War Z, Karger notes, as well as “the Channing Tatum sequel G.I. Joe: Retaliation, the Keanu Reeves samurai drama 47 Ronin, the family fantasy Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters, and the reboot Ninja Turtles.”

Buried in the middle of Karger’s article is an official comment from a Disney spokesman about The Lone Ranger, and rather than bemoaning the budget, the spokesman focuses on the film itself: “Everything we’ve seen so far on this film is exceeding our expectations, and we couldn’t be happier with the work we’re seeing from Jerry [Bruckheimer], Gore [Verbinski], Johnny, and the entire Lone Ranger team.” Hmm. Sounds pretty positive, doesn’t it? Keep up the good work!

You can read more about The Lone Ranger on the Zone’s News & Views forum. The photo of Tonto above was taken during the filming in Colorado last week; we thank Evochka for sharing it. You can see a larger version HERE.

Johnny Depp signs autographs in Creede, Colorado–new photos!

The Lone Ranger has finished its location filming in the mountains near the beautiful town of Creede, Colorado, and Johnny Depp said farewell by signing autographs for several hours at the Creede town hall and posing for pictures with the local residents, many of whom passed along the kindness by sharing those photos online. You can see Johnny signing autographs (and other memorabilia) HERE, HERE, HERE, and HERE; thanks to Keith Siddel, Tabby Goodrow, Jeannie Trudell, and Sarah Harren for the photos. Lynne Cartwright’s Facebook page has a number of photos and reports that Johnny “did all he could do to make sure everyone got to see him! He was super nice and gentle and humble [. . .] just wonderful.”

Ice Moon took a beautiful photo of Johnny at the signing with security chief Jerry Judge; you can see it HERE. Johnny also took time to shop at a local emporium, Rare Things, and was photographed as he left the shop HERE and HERE.

The Zone thanks all of the Creede residents for their photos and comments; we also thank FANtasticJD, evochka and emma for finding and sharing them with us.

Possible delay for THE THIN MAN remake?

Rob Marshall’s remake of the 1934 classic The Thin Man, with Johnny Depp in the iconic role of urbane sleuth Nick Charles, was set as the director’s next film; now Deadline.com reports that the projected November starting date is unlikely for a number of reasons. First and foremost, Warner Bros. has not yet given the project a green light, and the recently submitted budget, rumored to be around $100 million, will probably need some trimming to satisfy the WB management. “The studio hasn’t been shy about pulling back on films like Arthur & Lancelot and Akira over budget and redeveloping them for cost,” reports Deadline’s Mike Fleming. “I’m told there isn’t a big rush here because Depp wants to take some time between films.” This probably means that the actresses auditioning for Nora will have to wait a while for a decision, too.

Rob Marshall won’t be idle in the meantime; he has been developing the Sondheim musical Into the Woods for Disney and will likely film that next.

The Zone thanks FANtasticJD for sharing the news; you can read more about The Thin Man on the Zone’s News & Views forum. The Deadline.com story is available HERE.

It’s official: Johnny Depp and Vanessa Paradis announce they “have amicably separated”

From the “news we never wanted to announce” department comes word today from Johnny Depp’s publicist that Johnny and Vanessa Paradis “have amicably separated.” Rumors that the relationship might be ending began to circulate last January and received a lot of play in the tabloid press, although both Vanessa and Johnny denied the rumors at that time. A couple for fourteen years, Johnny and Vanessa are parents to Lily-Rose and Jack; in a statement released to E! News on Tuesday, Johnny’s publicist asked that we “please respect their privacy and, more importantly, the privacy of their children.” We at the Zone will do so, and we wish only the best for all concerned.

Wow! The 2012 Johnny Depp Zone Birthday Project raises $7,750 for Project Pueblo!

The Johnny Depp Zone’s 2012 Birthday Project has now concluded, and we are delighted to announce that this year’s project raised a grand total of $7,750 in support of Project Pueblo! This is the highest fundraising total any of our Birthday Projects has ever achieved, and thanks to your kindness and love for Johnny, we will be able to supply water systems for five Navajo families!

We send our sincere thanks to all the donors who contributed to our birthday gift for Johnny Depp; your generosity is truly inspiring, and it will have a lasting positive effect in the lives of others. Thanks for bringing this year’s Birthday Project to such a heartwarming conclusion.

DARK SHADOWS box office passes $200 million worldwide!

Good news for admirers of Johnny Depp, Tim Burton, and/or the classic television series Dark Shadows — the worldwide box office total for Burton’s new horror-comic reimagining of Dark Shadows has now exceeded $200 million! Congratulations! The film, which stars Johnny Depp as vampire Barnabas Collins and Eva Green as his nemesis, the witch Angelique Bouchard, has earned almost $74 million domestically and $130 million abroad, for a total of $203,785,840.

The Zone thanks moviemom for the new totals; you can read more about Dark Shadows and its box-office performance on the Zone’s News & Views forum.

Happy Birthday to Johnny Depp!

Today is Johnny Depp’s birthday, and on behalf of the worldwide community, we would like to send our heartfelt best wishes to Johnny. We hope he enjoys a wonderful birthday celebration with family and friends, and that the year to come, with the filming of The Lone Ranger — and maybe Rob Marshall’s The Thin Man, too — brings him great joy and creative fulfillment. We are looking forward to more live musical performances from Johnny, too! Above all, we would like to thank Johnny for letting us take this journey with him, and for being a constant source of inspiration, entertainment, and delight, both onscreen and off.

May the happiness Johnny Depp has given to all of us be returned to him in abundance. Humiliatedgrape’s birthday card speaks for Zoners all over the world: Happy Birthday, Johnny!

John Waters accepts CFDA Fashion Icon prize for Johnny Depp

More than twenty years ago, John Waters took a chance and cast Johnny Depp as the lead in his film Cry-Baby, and on Monday night in New York, the legendary director accepted the Fashion Icon award from the Council of Fashion Designers of America on behalf of the legend he launched. In his charming, witty, and delightfully literate acceptance speech, Waters noted that “for the first time ever, the CFDA is giving [the Fashion Icon award] to a man . . . the star who made dirty hair fashionable.”

Lauding Johnny as “the ultimate accessory queen,” Waters insisted that “[s]tyle comes naturally to Mr. Depp.” He described Johnny as “a friend who not only has the finest career of any American actor, but also has fashion balls. Johnny Depp never tries too hard . . . and he can’t look ugly no matter how hard he tries.” All true!

The Zone thanks emma, chic, and Theresa for sharing news about the CFDA awards; you can read more about them on the Zone’s News & Views forum, and you will also find a video of Mr. Waters’ speech there.

Johnny Depp accepts MTV Generation Award and plays guitar with The Black Keys–new photos!

The photo at left shows Johnny Depp on stage at the Gibson Amphitheater in Universal City, California tonight as he accepted the Generation Award from Aerosmith rock-god pals Steven Tyler and Joe Perry; to see a larger version of the photo of Johnny at the microphone, CLICK HERE, and to see a different photo of his acceptance remarks, CLICK HERE. “This is quite an amazing honor,” Johnny told the crowd. He added a self-deprecating joke: “It’s like the get-out-of-the-business award — you’ve done too much.”

Johnny then grabbed his guitar and jammed with The Black Keys, much to the delight of the audience. To see photos of Johnny being given his award, CLICK HERE and HERE, and to see photos of Johnny playing guitar, CLICK HERE and HERE.

The Zone thanks taba, humiliatedgrape and Theresa for sharing photos; you can read more about Johnny’s appearance at the MTV Awards on the Zone’s News & Views forum and the Pit General Discussion forum.

THE LONE RANGER release date changed to July 3, 2013

Disney has decided that a classic Western adventure will be the perfect accompaniment to fourth of July fireworks: the studio has announced that it is moving the release date for its summer 2013 tentpole The Lone Ranger from May 31, 2013 to July 3, 2013. The Lone Ranger, which stars Johnny Depp as Tonto and Armie Hammer as the Ranger, will face box-office competition from Independence Day 3D, a 3D version of the 1996 film starring Will Smith, and Despicable Me2. The Lone Ranger is currently shooting on location under the direction of Gore Verbinski.

The Zone thanks Sleepy for breaking the news; you can read more about The Lone Ranger on the Zone’s News & Views forum.

TV ALERT–Johnny Depp to receive MTV Generation Award at MTV Movie Awards, Sunday, June 3!

Congratulations to Johnny Depp, who will be honored with the MTV Generation award at the 2012 MTV Movie Awards, to be broadcast live on Sunday, June 3 at 9 p.m. ET/PT from the Gibson Amphitheatre in Universal City, California. “The MTV Generation Award is the Movie Awards’ highest honor,” reports James Montgomery on MTV.com. The award “acknowledg[es] an actor who can be counted on to engage the MTV audience with everything he or she does.”

According to the Hollywood Reporter, “Aerosmith bandmates Steven Tyler and Joe Perry will present Johnny Depp with the Generation Award;” Zone readers will recall that Tyler and Perry jammed with Johnny and Alice Cooper at the Dark Shadows afterparty at the Egyptian Theatre last month. Also, as part of the celebration, the Black Keys will perform a special rendition of their hit “Gold on the Ceiling” in Johnny’s honor. Sounds like a very special tribute–set your DVRs!

“Johnny Depp is a fearless, once-in-a-generation talent with a chameleon-like ability to inhabit any role,” Stephen Friedman, President of MTV, told the press. “With years of astonishing performances, Johnny has truly earned this Generation Award, and we look forward to honoring him with a can’t-miss tribute at this year’s Movie Awards.” Congratulations, Johnny!

The Zone thanks Emma and Theresa for sharing the news; you can read more about the MTV Movie Awards on the Zone’s News & Views forum.