Johnny Depp is not a fan of critics. Having his fair share of ups and downs in Hollywood, the actor has starred in several iconic movies and also, several flops. There was one movie in particular that flopped at the box office but Depp didn’t think it was a failure at all.
Talking about the 2013 movie titled The Lone Ranger, Depp starred alongside Armie Hammer with Gore Verbinski as the director. Although the movie was considered a flop, Johnny Depp proceeded to blame the critics for negative publicity before even seeing the movie!
Johnny Depp Blamed The Critics For Unjust Reviews
Depicting the story of a man of law allying himself with…well, a lone ranger who is a native American warrior, Johnny Depp starred alongside Armie Hammer for the ride. Although Depp had no expectations from the movie, he had not expected such disappointing reviews either. The actor proceeded to blame the critics for the failure of the movie.
In an interview with Variety, Depp accused the critics of writing negative reviews without even seeing the movie. Stating that they had already written the reviews seven or eight months before the movie was released, Depp accused the critics of unfair reviews.
“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’”
The actor further continued,
“They had expectations that it must be a blockbuster. I didn’t have any expectations of that. I never do.”
It wasn’t just Johnny Depp on an all-out war with the critics. Director Gore Verbinski, who directed the first three parts of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise had the same say as his lead actor for The Lone Ranger.
Director Gore Verbinski And Actor Armie Hammer Agree With Depp
The Lone Ranger was a movie made with many difficulties and controversies. From budgetary cuts to stopping production for a while, the movie had seen its ups and downs before its release. Gore Verbinski thinks that the controversial news was essentially what made the critics write negative reviews about the film. In an interview with Yahoo UK (via Variety), here’s what Verbinski said about the movie.
“I think they were reviewing the budget, not reviewing the movie. It’s unfortunate because the movie is a terrific movie, it’s a great epic film. It has lots of humor. Its one of those movies that whatever critics missed in it this time, they’ll review it in a few years and see that they made a mistake.”
And to add fuel to the fire, Depp’s co-star Armie Hammer went as far as to compare the movie to Brad Pitt’s World War Z and alleged that the critics tried to shut down that movie too!
They tried to do the same thing with ‘World War Z’. It didn’t work, the movie was successful. Instead they decided to slit the jugular of our movie.”
The movie went on to earn $260 million worldwide and received a rating of 6.4/10 on IMDB and a record low of 31% on Rotten Tomatoes.
The Lone Ranger, starring Johnny Depp and Armie Hammer is available to rent on Apple TV+.
Source: Variety
