Bruckheimer Unmasks Clooney-Lone Ranger Rumor

It certainly seemed too good to be true: George Clooney playing The Lone Ranger to Johnny Depp's Tonto. We already know that Depp is on board, but almost immediately after that news was made official, the rumors that Clooney would put on the black mask and the white hat began taking off.Producer Jerry Bruckheimer has dealt with plenty of rumors in his day. And he handled this one with typical ease, telling Coming Soon, "We haven't decided who is going to play the Lone Ranger yet. Get a director first and then figure it out." So he's not saying it won't be Clooney, but he is saying that it's not Clooney. There's a long way to go before we get there.Bruckheimer also talked about the National Treasure and Pirates of the Caribbean franchises, both of which will be written by Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio, who will also script The Lone Ranger. Saying he'd love to use IMAX technology with the fourth Pirates movie - the new trend if your movie has a budget in the hundreds of millions of dollars - Bruckheimer gave us a flexible target date. "I think they're pushing towards 2012," he said. "Hopefully we can make it. We'll see." That would be six years between Pirates flicks and Captain Jack. Is that too long a layoff? Will people still be jonesing for more of that franchise? Look at it this way: If you were 15 when the first movie came out, you'll be out of college by the time we see part four. Just something to think about.