Johnny Depp's 'Lone Ranger' movie back on

The Johnny Depp-Armie Hammer "Lone Ranger" project is back on, reports Access Hollywood. Previously, a skyrocketing budget had forced the movie into a delay, but now the budget has been cut, along with Depp and producers Jerry Bruckheimer and Gore Verbinski each taking a pay cut, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

"Johnny Depp, Jerry Bruckheimer and Gore Verbinski are such a talented combination and we're thrilled to get back to work with them on 'The Lone Ranger,' an original and exciting new Disney adventure," a studio spokesperson tells Access.

Hammer, of "Gossip Girl" and "The Social Network," will don the mask to play the titular role and Depp will play his Native American sidekick Tonto.

Depp tells MTV News of the role, "I like the character. I think I have interesting plans for the character, and I think the film itself could be entertaining and very funny. But also I like the idea of having the opportunity to make fun of the idea of the Indian as a sidekick -- which has always been [the case] throughout the history of Hollywood, the Native American has always been a second-class, third-class, fourth-class citizen, and I don't see Tonto that way at all. So it's an opportunity for me to salute Native Americans."

"The Lone Ranger" also stars Tom Wilkinson and Helena Bonham Carter and is scheduled for a May 2013 release.