With filming scheduled to begin around Halloween, director Gore Verbinski and producer Jerry Bruckheimer are moving quickly to cast key roles in their new version of the Western classic Lone Ranger. Oscar nominee Helena Bonham Carter, currently filming Dark Shadows with Johnny Depp in the UK and gracing movie screens in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2, is in talks to play “the madam of a brothel who deals with gentlemen and scoundrels,” according to Borys Kit of the Hollywood Reporter. Well, every old West town needs a madam, with or without a heart of gold . . . . The photo at left shows Helena and Johnny in their roles as Mrs. Lovett and Sweeney Todd; they also appeared together in Alice in Wonderland and Corpse Bride, and Helena played Charlie Bucket’s mother in Tim Burton’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, in which Johnny played Wily Wonka.

Dwight Yoakam will play a villain, rumored to be the leader of the gang that attacks the ranger (Armie Hammer) and leaves him for dead, while Barry Pepper will play a military officer. They will join an impressive cast that includes Johnny Depp as Tonto, Armie Hammer as the ranger, Ruth Wilson as Rebecca, and veteran character actor Tom Wilkinson as “a railroad tycoon with dubious intentions.”

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