Director Gore Verbinski has tapped prolific film composer Hans Zimmer to score his first animated film, Rango, which will star Johnny Depp. Rango is scheduled to begin shooting in January 2009. Verbinski and Zimmer have previously worked together on The Ring (2002), The Weather Man (2005), Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest (2006), and Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End (2007). Among the 100+ films scored by Hans Zimmer are The Dark Knight, Kung Fu Panda, The Burning Plain, Frost/Nixon, and Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa–and that’s just this year’s releases! The Zone thanks Emma for the update.

In other Rango news, Ryan Ball of Animation Magazine reports that Rango is now available for licensing “in all categories” through Paramount Licensing. The film is scheduled to arrive in theaters in March 2011. The Zone thanks Theresa for the news; you can read both Rango stories on the Zone’s News & Views forum. –Part-Time Poet