It’s getting mighty crowded in the desert.
The Orlando Sentinel’s Roger Moore reports that director Gore Verbinski’s remake of “The Lone Ranger” (y’know, the one where Johnny Depp inexplicably plays Tonto) has added a ton of supporting cast.

“There’s a role for Helena Bonham Carter, a villain’s part for singer/actor Dwight Yoakam and a part for veteran heavy Barry Pepper (“True Grit”). Armie Hammer (“The Social Network”) is “the masked man,” and Tom Wilksinson already has been cast in this 2012 release,” Moore writes this morning.

I’m a little — and pardon the pun here — gunshy at the prospect of a “Lone Ranger” remake, especially since I have vivid memories of the last filmed attempt to put the masked do-gooder on the big screen (1981’s absolutely awful “The Legend of the Lone Ranger“, starring Klinton Spilsbury in the title role.).

Depp is a terrific actor, to be sure. But I’m slightly appalled that Verbinksi didn’t cast an actual, y’know, Native American to portray the iconic figure of Tonto. Was Eric Schweig unavailable? And as the 1981 outing proved, it’s hard to capture the essence of The Lone Ranger on film without descending into camp. The ghost of Clayton Moore towers mightily over any such attempt.