The Lone Ranger

   

      Although popular within 1933 as a series on the radio and then also on television from 1949 to 1955, The Lone Ranger, adapted and directed by Verbinski, is considered to be a box-office failure. Starring Depp and Hammer, the motion picture holds several reasons as to why it became unsuccessful, arguably even from before the film had reached cinemas. 

       Primarily, many aspects of the film’s trailer conjured confusion to perhaps explain the lack of ticket purchases in this recent picture. For instance, it consists of blood, weapons and slithers of comedy which contrast against the dark colours and lighting used which becomes less attractive to all audiences. By pairing dark images, such as Bonham Carter as a prostitute, with a Disney film, the target audience is unclear, whereby the demographic of adults could find the humour too visual and childish and younger generations could almost feel disturbed by the violence or not understand the more mature themes, which is underlined more so by the fact that references to the original Western are encompassed into the plot. Furthermore, the monochromatic colouring that plays on the entirety of the trailer and in Depp’s costume and makeup, despite him being a renowned Hollywood star, could have contributed to the film’s failure as dullness often connotes disinterest, and this is highlighted by Burton’s Alice in Wonderland remake which Depp also stars in, as this became a successful film that is notorious for being colourful and unique, thus conflicts with The Lone Ranger. These examples therefore intensify the importance of trailers within the film industry, despite the casting, as when they are well pieced together, the target audience can be attracted to build excitement for a positive vibe to be pressed onto the film, and, consequently, the film critics.

Many viewers, including the cast and crew of the film, place the blame of its lack of its success onto the film critics, who mostly wrote negative reviews before its release. Depp voiced “I think the reviews were written when they heard Verbinski and Bruckheimer and me were going to do The Lone Ranger. Then their expectations that it must be a blockbuster,” supports this, illustrating that blockbusters can become lost within the summer film season as many are created. Verbinski’s work had gone fairly unnoticed as families were spending money on larger film titles without this negative expectation, such as on Planes, Despicable Me 2, and Monsters University, thus showing that the film wasn’t released at the most appropriate time, as it competed with more notable names that were more explicitly for children, so a part of the target audience was missing for The Lone Ranger.

The film critics, however, mainly targeted this motion picture due to the vast amount of money spent producing the film as a whole. Overall, around $250 million was spent creating this film, yet critics weren’t surprised that roughly only $30 million was made at the film’s opening weekend. From a plot bursting with too many storylines to steal the simplicity of a typical Western, to a lengthy film perhaps inconsiderate of its target audience, many found this box office failure to be predictable, demonstrating how powerful critics can be in order to manipulate a film’s atmosphere and the population’s perceptions, and how trailers can’t always attract an audience.