Armie Hammer Confirmed To Star Opposite Johnny Depp In ‘The Lone Ranger’

Perhaps it says something about the dearth of real leading men in Hollywood — films from “Captain America” to “Snow White and the Huntsman” and “Akira” have had real problems landing actors — but Armie Hammer has had one of the fastest accelerations from unknown to movie star that we can remember. A mere eight months ago, if you knew his name, and few did, it was as a nearly man, the actor cast as Batman in George Miller‘s aborted “Justice League” movie. But after stealing the show as the Winklevi in “The Social Network,” the actor’s landed bigger and bigger roles.

First he was cast as the love of Leonardo Di Caprio‘s life in Clint Eastwood‘s “J.Edgar.” Then he landed the role of the prince in Tarsem‘s “The Brothers Grimm: Snow White,” opposite Julia Roberts and Lily Collins. He was even close to landing Superman in “The Man of Steel,” before Henry Cavill got it. And now, he’s about to plant his claim to being a fully-fledged megastar: as previously rumored, the actor has taken the title role in the reboot of “The Lone Ranger,” from Jerry Bruckheimer and Gore Verbinski, the team behind “Pirates of the Caribbean.” And playing his sidekick, Tonto? Only the biggest movie star in the world, Johnny Depp.

Depp’s been attached to play the role for three years now, in a take that makes the Lone Ranger/Tonto relationship more equal, but it’s only now that the film, which like ‘Pirates’ will bring a supernatural tinge to a well-worn genre, has really got momentum. Over the years, actors from George Clooney to Vince Vaughn were linked with the masked former Texas Ranger, and Ryan Gosling turned the part down a few weeks back, but Hammer has now signed on, and he’s a pretty solid choice — he’s got the All-American golden boy thing down pat — even if we would’ve rather gone with our first choice, Timothy Olyphant. Filming gets underway in the fall, once Depp is wrapped on “Dark Shadows,” and it’s likely to hit theaters by the end of 2012. [Variety]