First look: Johnny Depp as Tonto in The Lone Ranger

Johnny Depp as Tonto and Armie Hammer as The Lone Ranger. Photo / Twitter

The first image of Johnny Depp as Tonto in the upcoming remake of The Lone Ranger has been released.

Producer Jerry Bruckheimer tweeted: "Tonto and The Lone Ranger Ride Again!" and linked to this photo.

The big budget movie, directed by Pirates of the Caribbean's Gore Verbinski, is due out in mid-2013, and is based on the iconic TV series that ran from 1949-1957.

It follows a masked crime-fighting ranger, played by Armie Hammer, and his Native American companion Tonto.

Depp recently told talk show host Larry King the script was "very funny" and likened the character to Captain Jack Sparrow from the Pirates films.

"What I like about Tonto, what I feel good about Tonto is that I feel like he's - you know when I came up with Captain Jack, I thought, 'Okay, I've really arrived at something different here', and Tonto feels right on par with Captain Jack.

"It feels like another Captain Jack to me."

- Herald Online