As long ago as March 2008, there was news that Jerry Bruckheimer was producing a live-action Lone Ranger movie and that Pirates of the Caribbean writers Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio were working on the screenplay. Not much else was heard of the project until rumors started circulating in May of this year that Jack Sparrow, himself, Johnny Depp, would be starring in the film as Tonto, the Ranger's Native American partner.
In September, during a huge Walt Disney Pictures media blitz, Depp was officially announced to play Tonto. Recently, in a group interview in Santa Monica, Bruckheimer said that the project is still moving forward.
Elliot and Rossio worked on that also with some other writers and with Johnny. So they're creating something that has a kind of true-to-the-western [feel], but adding other additional elements like we did with Pirates so it won't be just a straight-ahead western.
According to some reports, the "additional elements" that Bruckheimer refers to may be the inclusion of some supernatural elements to the story, much in the same way Pirates incorporated historical and fantastical elements.
As for who will play the title role of the Lone Ranger, Bruckheimer said that it's still up in the air.
We're still creating a pretty wide net and figuring it out. It comes down to who is available when we want to make it. We have a wish list.