This past weekend the majority of movie-goers flocked to see The Green Hornet, the film pulled in $40 million in its three day opening. One of the more interesting aspects of the movie is the way that the hero/sidekick dynamic is flipped, with Kato being a genius martial artist and brilliant with gadgetry, while the Green Hornet is a bit of a schlub. According to Johnny Depp, that very same dynamic will find its way into the film about Britt Reid's grand-uncle, The Lone Ranger.

The actor recently spoke with EW about the upcoming film, which will be directed by longtime collaborator Gore Verbinski, and one of the biggest draws of the project to him is it's treatment of Native American characters. Depp, who is part Cherokee and will be playing Tonto in the movie, recognizes the horrible on-screen representation of Native Americans in film history and sees this project as a way of repairing that image.

“It’s a real opportunity for me to give a salute to them. Tonto was a sidekick in all the Lone Ranger series. [This film] is a very different approach to that partnership. And a funny one I think.”

Produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and scheduled for a 2012 release, it's hard to know when things might get going for the project, particularly because they still don't have someone to play the title character. Here's hoping they can wrangle either George Clooney or Brad Pitt as previously rumored.