UPDATE: We have heard that this story is in fact incorrect and we have been given information direct from Disney / Jerry Bruckheuimer Films confirming Depp’s involvement in The Lone Ranger. Sorry for worrying any Depp fans out there necessarily!

Mark this one down as rumour for the moment…

We’re hearing from sources close to the next Jerry Bruckheimer/Disney project The Lone Ranger that Johnny Depp, who was was originally cast as Tonto in the movie, will no longer be taking part due to an unspecified scheduling conflict.

After doing some digging, a couple of future projects Depp is attached to could be candidates for the conflict. Pirates of the Caribbean director Rob Marshall is said to be in talks to direct Depp in The Thin Man remake for Warner Bros which THR reported last month, but no further details have been announced and we understand that the script is still being written. Depp was also rumoured to be appearing in Kathryn Bigelow’s Triple Frontier, which Bigelow and her screenwriter Marc Boal were reported to have been seeking finance for, in order to shoot in Autumn of this year, so if Depp has signed on and the financing is in place the conflict would certainly exist.

The Lone Ranger would reunite Depp with director Gore Verbinski, who worked with Bruckheimer & Disney on the first three Pirates of the Caribbean movies and Tonto is a role Depp has been linked to the role since late 2008 so there’s a good chance that any scheduling conflicts may possibly be worked out to accommodate the actor. Choosing to do the fourth Pirates film may have pushed The Lone Ranger back so another postponement may be on the cards.

As we said, we’ve not had anything official through but we’ll obviously keep you posted if/when when get more information.