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Scoble, Alex Scoble
Disney makes a movie about a dude and his Native American friend and they cast a white dude to play the Native American...in the 21st century...and the movie is a colossal bomb. Yeah, who, outside of the Disney studio didn't see that one coming?
Isn't Depp partially Native American? - Colette
He says so, though no clear lineage for proof, and wrong nationality. I still find it kind of dumb that so many people bitched about this, though. I don't have the confirmed lineage, but I have significant (in combination) portions of Cherokee, Shawnee, and a little Blackfoot. Most American Caucasians I know do have some portion, but not necessarily significant enough to be confirmed or considered part of the tribe. - OCoG of FF, Jimminy
The Depp as Native American thing is in dispute last I heard. Thought truth be told the movie has multiple fatal flaws even if Jay Silverheels grandson would have played Tonto A billion dollar re-do of a 50's TV western.... #aintexactlymoviemagic - WarLord
Casting issues aside, I'm going to wager a crappy script can't be overcome by the most talented of actors. - Derrick
at a certain point you can't paper over the issues by just blowing up another train... And by my count it was at least three movies going on, none of which was satisfactorily resolved Awesome special effects though like the best train set evah! - WarLord
+1 WarLord. The movie didn't fail because the casting wasn't race accurate, the movie failed because it was a horrible movie. - Derrick
The movie failed because the demand for a Lone Ranger franchise was low. See: Disney's John Carter. The casting issue, while noteworthy, wasn't an issue with the public. - Johnny
That too. See also, Wild Wild West. I don't know if contemporary audiences are interested in Westerns. - Derrick
Wild Wild West was awesome. It had everything a pre-teen could want. - OCoG of FF, Jimminy
It very well may have; it was also a box office disaster. - Derrick
*tosses childhood to the corner* *sheds tear* - OCoG of FF, Jimminy
haha, there there, James. - Derrick
I'd pay to see a modern remake of "the Searchers" - WarLord
I'd like to see a Western with mostly female leads and see how they do that. I'd also like to see more unusual Westerns like "1000 Pieces of Gold". I think something of the quality and approach of Deadwood could do well in the box office now. And "Unforgiven" did well in what feels like the not so long ago past in my old middle-aged mind. - Spidra Webster
One of the reasons I left film behind in terms of a career aspiration was because the business had changed (and continues to change) so much. Unforgiven is awesome. Made in '92? Movies now have a very different business dynamic. I don't know if there are execs in place who have the same heart and so much money is on the line in terms of production. Also, movies are now seemingly made for folks much younger than me; I just don't know if studios want to take chances. And it's sad. - Derrick
Not now. It's to shakey an economy to take risks. It's all remakes and sequels. - Johnny
And comic books. - Derrick
And cheap Blair Witch knockoffs - Johnny
and if you're going to redo a 50's TV western how about "Have Gun Will Travel." instead.... - WarLord
Yeah, I can't say that the movie flopped because of the choice to cast Depp in the sidekick role, but karma sure is a bitch. - Scoble, Alex Scoble
It was just one stupid choice in an obvious line of stupid choices, including the choice to even make the movie. - Scoble, Alex Scoble
When "creativity" becomes which TV show you decide to copy to build a "franchise" the entire Industry is in trouble. Of course let's not forget the entire Star Trek franchise is based on a failed 60's TV show... - WarLord
John Carter and Lone Ranger done even competently would have resulted in the beloved franchises so ,prized.. Who cares about "pirates' after all - WarLord
Well, failed is relative. It's not like Trek got cancelled midway in their first season :D I think there's a market for decent Westerns. I mean, "True Grit" did fairly well even though it was a remake and it had a young woman as the protagonist. (Of course, it didn't cost $250 million to make, either.) - Victor Ganata
Agreed, True Grit didn't cost what *marketing* The Lone Ranger cost. - Derrick
I became curious about how True Grit did versus The Lone Ranger. True Grit's budget was $35 million, and made more than $252 million (per http://www.the-numbers.com/movies...). The Lone Ranger's budget was $275 million, and so far it's made $175.5 million (per http://www.the-numbers.com/movies...). So, yeah, ouch. (Note that the budget numbers used here typically don't include marketing costs.) - Stephen Mack
Django did ok at the box office, completely different type of western, though. - Joe
Remaking a movie is a lot safer than trying to convert a 30 minute TV show into a long form movie. While the Simpsons Movie did ok, it wasn't the greatest movie. You can see where the conversion struggled. - Johnny
The irony of the present discussion, NBC axed Star Trek after 2 seasons over "low ratings" then relented for one more... I have no memory of it, but undoubtedly they replaced ST with a Western because nobody was Interested in watching Science Fiction on TV... #themorethingschange - WarLord
Warlord--to be fair, I've seen pirates more times in theatres than I should probably admit. It's one of my favorite disney film franchises... - Colette