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Hollywood faces tremendous pressure to produce box-office successes. And there are more risks than ever when an acclaimed actor like Johnny Depp is the center of attention. But in the chaos that surroundedThe Lone Ranger’s release, theJeanne du Barryactor insisted that the media’s relentless criticism was a major factor in the movie’s failure, rather than taking responsibility for it.
DespiteThe Lone Ranger’s poor box office performance, Depp insisted that neither the quality of the film nor his performance were solely to blame. It may seem like a desperate justification, but the actor claimed that the $260.5 million film has been unfairly ‘targeted’ by the media. But, in contrast to his prior successes, the actor, along with Mark Wahlberg, brought up an interesting point regarding the level of media scrutiny surrounding such films.
Also Read:Major Johnny Depp Movie Surprised Critics by Grossing Over $1 Billion Despite Many Flaws
Johnny Depp Has an Excuse ForThe Lone Ranger’s Failure
The story ofThe Lone Ranger,directed by Gore Verbinski and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, focused on John Reid (Armie Hammer), a masked hero out to right wrongs, and his sidekick Tonto, played byJohnny Depp.TheJeanne du Barrystar felt that reviews had a partial share of the blame for the movie’s downfall, which was distributed by Walt Disney Studios. He informed theLA Times:
“I think the reviews were probably written when they heard that Gore and Jerry and I were going to do ‘The Lone Ranger’. I think that Gore made a very brave film.”
EvenMark Wahlbergblamed the failures on the studios, who claimed that they had focused too much on marketing and not enough on differentiating their film stories.
“First and foremost, the media is targeting all these movies. There’s intense scrutiny on us, way more than before. They are spending so much money to pull the wool over the audience’s eyes with these effects-driven movies..”
Varietyclaimed that despite an estimated $225–250 million production budget and an additional $150 million in marketing expenses,The Lone Rangerearned only $260.5 million worldwide and was largely panned by critics. This makes it one of the biggest box office bombs ever, costing Disney over $160–190 million.
Also Read:A ’90s Superhero Franchise Has Enough Amount Of Crazy To Revive Johnny Depp’s Career: It’s Not Marvel Or DC
He Also AttributedThe Lone Ranger’s Downfall To Negative Reviews
Producer Jerry Bruckheimer of Disney’sThe Lone Ranger,along with actors Johnny Depp and Armie Hammer, took toVarietyto voice their opinions, accusing the press of ruining the 2013 flick with negative assessments. Depp gave Variety an explanation, saying,
“I think the reviews were written seven to eight months before we released the film. I think the reviews were written when they heard Gore [Verbinski] and Jerry [Bruckheimer] and me were going to do The Lone Ranger. They had expectations that it must be a blockbuster. I didn’t have any expectations of that. I never do.”
Hammer continued, saying in the meantime:
“This is the deal with American critics: they’ve been gunning for our movie since it was shut down the first time. That’s when most of the critics wrote their initial reviews. They tried to do the same thing with toWorld War Z, it didn’t work, the movie was successful. Instead they decided to slit the jugular of our movie.”
After taking into consideration revenue splits with theater owners,The New York Timesestimated that the film would need to make an estimated $650 million worldwide to break even on its $375 million production and marketing costs. Despite this, it was nominated for two Academy Awards (86th): Best Visual Effects and Best Makeup and Hairstyling.
William Fichtner, Barry Pepper, Ruth Wilson, James Badge Dale, Tom Wilkinson, Helena Bonham Carter, and Curtis Cregan were cast in supporting roles. Well, movies are meant to be enjoyed, regardless of critics’ opinions or film pundits, and Depp’sThe Lone Rangeroffers plenty of opportunities to do so despite its many shortcomings.
The Lone Rangeris available to watch on Disney+.
Also Read:3 Major Reasons Why Even a $200 Million Budget Could Not Save Jake Gyllenhaal’s One of the Most Disappointing Movie Prince of Persia
Siddhika Prajapati
Senior Journalist & Content Head
Articles Published :3310
With over 3,300 articles carved into the digital walls of FandomWire, Siddhika Prajapati excels at creating, curating, and elevating engaging stories. She takes pride in giving these stories a home and, of course, she’s got a Google Knowledge Panel to prove it!Whether it’s reviewing the latest drop on Netflix, Amazon Prime, or Apple TV+, or analyzing the cultural echoes of a streaming hit on Paramount+ or Max, Siddhika is always writing three steps ahead of the discourse.
