The stars, the director, and the executive producer of Disney's mega-flop The Lone Ranger are blaming the film's failure on the critics who were harsh on the film because of its bad buzz.
Well, I just happen to have a device that can tell Depp, Hammer, Verbinski, and Bruckheimer exactly who is responsible for the failure of The Lone Ranger.
It's called a MIRROR!
Why did the film have bad buzz?
Because the people starring and making the film went completely bugshit crazy with the overindulgence. They spent too much, they "acted" too much, they put everything on size and campiness, and not on story.
The whole project reeked of overindulgence in everything except creativity.
Now not everybody paid attention to the stories of overspending and overacting coming from the movies rather monstrous sets. However, the market is like a big hive mind comprised of millions of minds. While the majority may not know the facts, they do get a sense of what's going on, even without the specifics.
That's called "buzz" and there was no good "buzz" of any kind coming from The Lone Ranger.
That's not the fault of the critics, but of the people behind the film.
Critics can hurt a film, but I doubt they can really kill a film. Adam Sandler's career would have ended years ago if that were true.
What can kill a film are the sort of self-inflicted wounds people like Depp, Bruckheimer, Verbinski, and Hammer put on it.
Also that they revived a dated property associated with the 1930s through 1950s, radio through early TV era. Young people today, if they know or care, associate the Lone Ranger with their grandparents' era. there's really no updating it the way the classic western has been, occasionally, in "Unforgiven". So it was the out-of-date characters adn sensibility as much as the excess, imho. Sort of like why "John Carter" bombed- who in their right mind would think a ludicrously old-fashioned pulp sci-fi book from the 1910s would ever track with modern audiences? A civil war officer who ends up on Mars? really? Today, unlike 100 years ago, we know there's no giant bugs or alien princesses on Mars. Even given the usual suspension of disbelief in any sci-fi or theater in general, that was undoubtedly quite a bit too much. Beware of passion projects.
ReplyDeleteInteresting.
ReplyDeleteBut there is more to it than that. I am 57 years old and loved the Long Ranger as a kid. I loved westerns growing up.
ReplyDeleteSure I'm probably not the "modern audience" they are tracking but EVEN I didn't want to see the new Lone Ranger.