Casting agents for Walt Disney's upcoming movie, "The Lone Ranger," have been hanging out in the wild west looking for genuine extras.
The film isn't slated to hit theaters until May 2013 but is already kicking up some dust because it's being adapted from the popular 1950 television series by Gore Verbinski and will be starring Johnny Depp, Armie Hammer and Helena Bonham Carter.
"Lone Ranger" is the story of a masked ex-Texas ranger who fought injustice in the west with his Native American companion Tonto, and cries of "Hi-ho Silver, away!"
Casting agents spent the past few days in Colorado visiting towns like Alamosa, Colorado Springs and Durango, before moving on to Utah. Hammer (The Social Network, J. Edgar) will be cast as the Lone Ranger, and Depp (The Rum Diary, Pirates of the Caribbean) will be playing Tonto.
According to the Pueblo Chieftain, the event in Alamosa prompted hundreds to stand in line on Sunday.
Sande Alessi, whose casting company has a history of collecting extras for Verbinski films like Pirates of the Caribbean, told the paper that the men and women they were looking for had to "really be cowboys and workers."
According to the advertisement, agents have been seeking out "extreme character types" that are also stereotypical of the old west, people with: lazy eyes, "grizzled and wrinkled faces," and other notable features.
Bill Werner, the executive director of the Southern Colorado Film Commission told The Huffington Post that among some of the more interesting extras requests were a 400 pound woman and an 8-foot tall man.
"I'm excited that they'll be here. They almost filmed 'True Grit' here, but it didn't work out," Werner said.
At least one scene will be shot in Creede, Colo., a mountainous old mining town that once produced over $1 million in silver.
On April 1st the casting agency will return looking for more extras in Moab, Utah.