WAMG On the Red Carpet for THE LONE RANGER World Premiere

THE LONE RANGER will ride into theaters one week from today, but lots has been going on since the famed masked hero and his sidekick, Tonto, hit the red carpet this past weekend. On Monday, producer Jerry Bruckheimer received his Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

On Saturday (June 22) at the Disney California Adventure Park, Johnny Depp, Armie Hammer, director Gore Verbinski, producer Jerry Bruckheimer were on the red carpet for Disney’s THE LONE RANGER and WAMG was there for the world premiere.

Depp and Hammer signed autographs and spoke with fans looking forward to the film on July 3rd.

Depp remembers watching repeats of the TV show when he was a boy. The actor promises that his Tonto will be an equal partner – and certainly not a sidekick – to the Lone Ranger and honor the noble, warrior tradition of his Native American heritage.

“‘The Lone Ranger’ was just one of those sort of regular things that you would see on television as a kid. I watched it and I always identified with Tonto,” he says. “And even as a kid I wondered why the Indian was the sidekick.

“And it wasn’t that ‘The Lone Ranger’ was overtly disrespectful in the way he treated Tonto but I just thought, ‘why is he the guy that has to go and do this and that? Why isn’t he the hero?’ So that was something that was always on my mind. And I was told at a very young age that we have some Indian blood in our family… who knows how much – maybe very little, I don’t know.

“So what I wanted to do was play this character not as the sidekick to the Lone Ranger. I wanted to play him as a warrior and as a man with great integrity and dignity. It’s my small sliver of a contribution to try and right the wrongs that have been committed in the past.”

Johnny Depp, talking about his experience working with Hammer, says, “First and foremost, Armie is a great guy. He’s very smart, very quick and clever with a great wit and he’s super talented. He committed to playing the Lone Ranger a an earnest, naïve, ‘white man’ – and that’s exactly right.

“Armie is a young actor coming up the ranks and he looks like a classic movie star and what’s more, he has the chops to back it up,” continues Depp. “So he fully committed to this role – he played it perfectly, he got the humor, and he didn’t want to play it as the ‘cool guy’ as it were. I found him a dream to work with and I feel like I’ve made a really good friend in Armie.”

A giant red carpet down the Park’s iconic Hollywood Boulevard was lined with thousands of park guests cheering for the film’s stars, filmmakers, and celebrities in attendance. The Lone Ranger’s horse Silver made an appearance along with the actual train engine built for the film. Ticket sales from the event benefitted the American Indian College Fund.

Fans at home were able to watch the event LIVE from the Park via YouTube. You can catch the 2 hour replay below.

Some of the guests stayed for the after party.

From producer Jerry Bruckheimer and director Gore Verbinski, the filmmaking team behind the blockbuster “Pirates of the Caribbean” franchise, comes Disney/Jerry Bruckheimer Films’ THE LONE RANGER, a thrilling adventure infused with action and humor, in which the famed masked hero is brought to life through new eyes.  Native American warrior Tonto (Johnny Depp) recounts the untold tales that transformed John Reid (Armie Hammer), a man of the law, into a legend of justice—taking the audience on a runaway train of epic surprises and humorous friction as the two unlikely heroes must learn to work together and fight against greed and corruption.

THE LONE RANGER also stars Tom Wilkinson, William Fichtner, Barry Pepper, James Badge Dale, Ruth Wilson and Helena Bonham Carter. A Disney/Jerry Bruckheimer Films presentation, “The Lone Ranger” is directed by Gore Verbinski and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and Gore Verbinski, with screen story by Ted Elliott & Terry Rossio and Justin Haythe and screenplay by Justin Haythe and Ted Elliott & Terry Rossio.

Disney/Jerry Bruckhemer Films’ THE LONE RANGER opens in U.S. theaters on July 3, 2013 and is rated PG-13.

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Photos: ©Disney Enterprises, Inc. and Jerry Bruckheimer Inc. All Rights Reserved.