Disney has struck a deal with director Gore Verbinski, star Johnny Depp and producer Jerry Bruckheimer to put the stalled LONE RANGER back into production, reports Deadline.com. The word is that filming will resume early next year in New Mexico. When the film will be released is uncertain considering that the new start date makes hitting the originally announced date of Dec. 21, 2012 very difficult.

Verbinski, Depp and Bruckheimer all took cuts in their financial deals and reworked the script in order to retain the spectacle, but bring the production to a $215 million budget.

The story follows a nearly dead Texas Ranger (Armie Hammer) who is saved by Comanche Tonto (Depp), who trains the former lawman to be a masked avenger. The cast also includes Tom Wilkinson, Helena Bonham Carter, Dwight Yoakam and Barry Pepper.