After a spiraling budget and bizarre script that contained, among other things, werewolves, Disney put everyone associated with the project in time-out until they could reach a hard budget of $215 million. Now that the budget is there, The Lone Ranger is once again in production. Reportedly, the poor box office performance of Cowboys and Aliens had Disney execs concerned about the viability of high-concept westerns, even those that star Johnny Depp as a Native American sidekick.

The big question now is whether or not the delayed 2012 start will afford Verbinski and Co. the ability to adhere to their December 21, 2012 release date. (Deadline)

Though it probably has little to do with the shutdown, an announcement was made earlier this week that Brad Pitt‘s World War Z was going head to head with the Disney project, also picking a release date of December 21, 2012.

The project, though initially met with eye-rolling over another adaptation, seemed to be pulling in some quality actors in the way of Dwight Yoakam, Helena Bonham-Carter, and Barry Pepper. Shifting popular sentiment to “cautiously optimistic,” which on the internet, is equivalent to walking on water.

While the budget trimming makes sound financial sense, I can’t imagine a world in which a Johnny Depp Disney film fails to be profitable. Maybe they just don’t trust that Armie Hamer kid. Did you know there weren’t even two of him in The Social Network? He deceived us.