The Lone Ranger film set stretches along the main road into the Valles Caldera Preserve Thursday. The visitor center is off the picture to the right. Photo by TK Thompson/ladailypost.com

A mock Indian Village, complete with Teepees is barely visible in the History Grove of Ponderosa Pines on the far side of the Valles Grande. Photo by TK Thompson/ladailypost.com

Johnny Depp as Tonto. Tweet photo

Producer Jerry Bruckheimer tweeted the first official picture of Disney’s The Lone Ranger.

The Lone Ranger’s struggles have been well documented: after shuffling from studio to studio through an extended development period, it was taken on by Disney at a reported $250 million budget.

But after the disappointing results for another action-western, Cowboys and Aliens, production was halted so the budget could be scaled back.

After a period of considerable uncertainty, when it seemed that the entire project could collapse, agreement was reached and filming began. The release date is set for early summer 2013. 

The main entrance to the Valles Caldera National Preserve was closed Thursday for filming of scenes for The Lone Ranger movie. Photo by TK Thompson/ladailypost.com

New Mexico State Highway Patrol were at the main entrance and a Sandoval County Sheriff’s vehical was spotted on N.M. 4. Photo by TK Thompson/ladailypost.com

The main entrance to the Preserve was manned by VCNP staff and Private Security personnel. Photo by TK Thompson/ladailypost.com

A sign at the main gate and a good guess is that “TLR” stands for “The Lone Ranger,” which is the name of the film they are shooting at the VCNP. More “TLR” signs are visible along the highway at the back gate near the junction of N.M. 502 and N.M. 4 in Los Alamos County. Photo by TK Thompson/ladailypost.com