TheWrap.com is reporting that Ryan Gosling (Blue Valentine, Half-Nelson) is in talks to star as the titular hero of Disney’s upcoming The Lone Ranger. Gosling is currently set to star in the upcoming remake of Logan’s Run, a burgeoning tent pole project for Warner Bros.
Gosling’s current involvement with Logan’s Run could put a wrench in his involvement as the gunslinger as the sci-fi remake is scheduled to start shooting this fall, but "Ranger" is likely to not film until 2012. Should Gosling be cast, he would star alongside Johnny Depp as Tonto, the Lone Ranger’s trusted Native American companion.
The character(s) of The Lone Ranger originated from the 1933 radio serials about a masked Texas Ranger who, alongside his friend Tonto, battled various criminal elements throughout the Western landscape. The series made the jump to TV in 1949 and ran until 1957, further endearing the Ranger into popular culture.
The Mouse House hopes to make the same lightning that created their “Pirates of the Caribbean” franchise strike again: Gore Verbinski (director of the first “Pirates” films) will direct. With Gosling’s star continuing to rise, not to mention the number of leading roles he has been landing, there is no doubt Disney is looking to bring the iconic franchise into the next generation.
