Sensing that some of the incredibly expensive sparks have gone out of their relationship, Disney will end its first-look deal with producer Jerry Bruckheimer in 2014—a resolution that, as in anything involving Jerry Bruckheimer movies these days, has taken a very long time to arrive. Also, it’s surrounded in confusing noise, with both sides insisting that their divorce after more than 20 years is not about The Lone Ranger, and certainly not the increased tension that film’s failure brought to the development and budgeting of other Bruckheimer films, like the recently delayed Pirates Of The Caribbean 5, to the point where Disney is now just nagging him all the time. “Where’s the script, Jerry? Do you really need to build your own train, Jerry?” And so on.
But that’s not an accurate viewpoint, says the man who believes history will vindicate The Lone Ranger as “brave and wonderful.” “It's not about Lone Ranger,” Bruckheimer said. “It's more about the types of movies Disney is making, and the types of movies we want to make, in addition to Pirates.” Disney echoed in a statement that Bruckheimer is “looking to produce more mature films outside the scope of the Disney brand”—implicitly suggesting that, well, if Bruckheimer thinks Disney is so immature, maybe he can go get some other studio hussy to pay for his projects.
In a statement to The Hollywood Reporter, Disney chairman Alan Horn added, “This is about a long-term relationship with lots of pluses and minuses. The Lone Ranger certainly didn't help things, but we all have our wins and our losses, and this is an overall thing related to the company's supply of projects from all these other places.” In other words, Disney has Pixar, Marvel, and Lucasfilm now, and it will be just fine without him.
Nevertheless, Disney and Bruckheimer have assured that they still plan to make another Pirates and even a National Treasure movie together, and that they still love you very much.