Armie Hammer has found himself quickly on the top of the list of young actors in Hollywood. His breakout performance in David Fincher‘s “The Social Network” quickly nabbed him roles in Clint Eastwood‘s “J. Edgar” as well as Tarsem Singh‘s upcoming Snow White movie with Julia Roberts. And if everything goes according to plan, Hammer could quickly find himself starring opposite the biggest movie star in the world.
Deadline reveals that the actor is in early talks to take on the titular role in “The Lone Ranger” with Johnny Depp playing Tonto. As you might recall, Ryan Gosling was rumored for a hot minute before his reps shot it down. The Gore Verbinski-directed film has been in the works now for a while, getting formally announced last fall with Justin Haythe, who adapted “Revolutionary Road” for Sam Mendes as well as the “Jekyll” project for Keanu Reeves, penning the screenplay.
Anyway, we’ll soon see how this plays out but we really hope the young actor doesn’t fall into Jeremy Renner Syndrome and just start taking big studio projects. The kid is a fine actor and we’d love to see him mix it up with some challenging indie fare. That said, you don’t say no to opportunity to work with Johnny Depp especially in a film which wounds like it would be a total blast to make. The plan is to shoot the film this fall presumably when Depp is done with “Dark Shadows” and Hammer is finished saving Snow White from Erin Brockovich.