'Lone Ranger' Will Be A Great Movie in 10 Years, Producer Says

Hollywood mega-producer Jerry Bruckheimer has defended The Lone Ranger after it proved a flop with film fans, insisting it will be considered a great movie in the years to come.

Director Gore Verbinski's modern reimagining of the Wild West tale, featuring Armie Hammer as the masked lawman and Johnny Depp as his trusted sidekick Tonto, bombed when it earned just $29.4 million at the U.S. box office on its opening weekend earlier this month.

The movie also failed to impress the critics, but Bruckheimer is adamant its detractors will look back on it with fondness in years to come -- like his 1983 dance classic Flashdance.

He said, "It reminds me of a critic who called Flashdance a 'toxic dump'. Ten years later (the critic) said, 'This is really a good movie. I missed it.' I think (The Lone Ranger is) going to be looked back on as a brave, wonderful film."

'Despicable Me 2' Tramples 'Lone Ranger' at Theaters

The  minions have overtaken "The Lone Ranger."



Studio estimates Friday show "Despicable Me 2" is trampling the Johnny Depp Western at the holiday box office. The animated Universal sequel has collected three times more than the Disney cowboy caper since both films debuted Wednesday.



"Despicable Me 2" earned $59.5 million so far, while "The Lone Ranger" took in $19.5 million in ticket sales.



Moviegoers opted for the minions over the masked man by more than 2 to 1 on Independence Day. The family film dominated with $24.5 million Thursday, compared with Ranger's $9.86 million.



Poor reviews for "The Lone Ranger" may have translated to sluggish ticket sales. Chicago Sun-Times critic Richard Roeper called the $250 million Western "slick trash."

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Lone Ranger' Ambushed at Box Office, Disney May Face Loss

LOS ANGELES - "The Lone Ranger," Walt Disney Co's big-budget western starring Johnny Depp, performed below expectations on Wednesday night, raising the possibility that the movie could saddle the media giant with a loss on the film.



The film, which cost an estimated $225 million to produce, generated $9.7 million during Wednesday showings, falling well behind "Despicable Me 2" from Comcast's Universal Pictures, which sold $34.3 million at the domestic box office, according to studio estimates.



Both films opened with limited showings on Tuesday. For the two-day period, "Despicable Me 2" generated $39 million and "The Lone Ranger" saw $11.7 million.



Disney estimates "The Lone Ranger" will sell $45 million for the Wednesday through Sunday July Fourth holiday weekend, below industry experts' initial forecasts of $60 million to $70 million over the five days.



"If it does end up grossing less than $50 million over the five-day stretch, it will most certainly go down as a misfire," said Jeff Bock, senior box office analyst for Exhibitor Relations, which tracks movie box office prospects.



The film's poor opening is a black eye for producer Jerry Bruckheimer, director Gore Verbinski and star Depp, the trio behind Disney's ultra-successful "Pirates of the Caribbean" series.



Disney made their prior success a key part of marketing the current film, and Depp's international appeal still could help the film's overseas box office.



"The Lone Ranger" is an action remake of a 1930s radio show and television series in the 1950s. Armie Hammer plays John Reid, the lawman who dons a mask to fight injustice in the Old West. This time, though, it is the Lone Ranger's Native American sidekick Tonto, played by Depp, who takes center stage.



Critics have not embraced the movie. Among 110 reviews compiled on the Rotten Tomatoes website on Wednesday, just 25 percent recommended the film.



Gitesh Pandya, editor of the website Box Office Guru, estimates the film will generate $100 million in domestic ticket sales.



A $60 million opening over its first days would have generated a modest profit, according to Tony Wible, a managing director of Janney Montgomery Scott who follows Disney.



With that opening, he estimated the film would generate $180 million in domestic ticket sales and give Disney total revenues of $370 million from foreign, video and other sales.



Studios and theaters generally share box office receipts.



Disney spent $225 million to make the film and an estimated $100 million to market it.



A Disney spokesperson was not available for comment on the studio's outlook for the film's profitability.



"The Lone Ranger" is the latest entry in Disney's strategy of spending more on fewer films to build franchises from big budget movies that can generate continued revenues from sequels, merchandise and outlets like its theme parks and TV properties.



The company found such success with Marvel superhero films "The Avengers" and "Iron Man 3," and with Pixar's "Monsters University," but wrote down $200 million when sci-fi epic "John Carter" flopped last year.



The studios will update the box office results over the weekend.





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The Lone Ranger and All The FavoriteTelevision Cowboy Heroes’ -out July 9-from Event Bookazines

New York -- There are many institutions which one could argue to be uniquely American--the Constitution, jazz, blues, and baseball. Yet all are derivative and have roots in other cultures of the distant past. However, the American Western stands alone as uniquely American as, apple pie.



An entire of generation of readers will relish a walk down memory lane in this most-cherished of TV genres, as Rawhide and Deadwood producer A.C. Lyles and Western-genre expert, actor Bruce Boxleitner (How the West Was Won) punctuate this latest release from Event Bookazine with insightful commentary and one-of-a-kind memories.



Released to coincide with the release of Disney’s The Lone Ranger, starring Armie Hammer and Johnny Depp, an entirely new audience is ready for the re-awakening of interest in what was once, hands-down, the most popular and beloved of American story-telling traditions. Westerns represent an American ideal, and a reflection of their times.



The first television Cowboy heroes (e.g., Hopalong Cassidy, Gene Autry, Roy Rogers) were untarnished heroes in white hats who always won and never missed a shot. Eventually they came to be represented as loners (Shane), followed by the outcast or misunderstood (Have Gun Will Travel), the wrongfully-disgraced (Branded) and finally outlaws themselves as anti-heroes (Alias Smith and Jones) in lieu ofButch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.



Among the 13 chapters, are: The Loners; The Long Ranger: Never Alone; Gunsmoke; The Gamblers; The James Bonds of the Old West; When the Classics Were Ready for Their Close-ups; and, Revisionist History. Also, an exclusive interview with TV’s Bruce Boxleitner, who was hand-picked by James Arness (Gunsmoke) to appear in the classic epic, 1962’s How The West Was Won.



The 128-page magazine –out July 9- focuses on the most celebrated westerns; referencing other shows of each era - including, The Rifleman, Maverick, The Wild, Wild West) - as well as competing shows, focusing on the great actors and the characters they played, along with beautiful pictures from the world’s foremost collector of TV Western photography, Doug Abbot, with production notes and behind the scene anecdotes.





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