America achieves both fame and fortune

Chapter 740 The box office is ruined

Compared to Johnny Depp's pettiness, Martin is definitely a magnanimous person. On the day "The Lone Ranger" was released in North America, he bought two movie tickets and took Bruce to support Depp.

If Lily and Elizabeth hadn't gone to Europe on business, he would have bought four, or even five, tickets no matter what.

After all, Bruce can't be left single.

Beverly Hills, Floyd's Cinema.

Martin and Bruce, dressed up specially, got out of the Chevrolet they had driven and leisurely entered the movie theater.

Martin wore wide-rimmed glasses, a long wig, and a full beard, completely transforming his appearance.

At the theater entrance, perhaps to avoid the series of negative impacts brought by Johnny Depp, the main poster for "The Lone Ranger" was changed from showing Depp alone to showing Depp and Armie Hammer together.

Depp's character has a peculiar and bizarre appearance, like an Indian version of Captain Jack Sparrow.

In their initial plans, Megan Ellison and Jerry Bruckheimer intended to turn The Lone Ranger into a new Pirates of the Caribbean series.

Martin hadn't been in contact with either of them recently, and after all that had happened with Johnny Depp, he didn't know if the two big shots had changed their minds.

Bruce glanced at Depp and said, "None of the characters this guy plays are normal."

Martin said, "Any normal person would play a role like mine."

The two entered the theater, and Bruce went to buy tickets. There weren't many people in the ticket hall, so there was no need to queue. Tickets for "The Lone Ranger" could be bought at will.

Bruce got the tickets and met up with Martin in the theater.

The theater, which can accommodate more than 200 people, was very empty at this time, with very few audience members.

Martin went to the last row where he could see the entire theater clearly, and quickly glanced around. There were fewer than ten people in the theater.

Bruce said, "The attendance rate seems to be even lower than that of Alexandrovich's 'Napoleon the Great'."

When this comedy was released in North America, it was shown in no more than 1000 theaters.

"The Lone Ranger" was released simultaneously in 3945 theaters.

Martin recalled, "After the premiere, it seemed like a lot of media and critics praised the film."

"I'd guess it's similar to ours," Bruce said, but added another point: "Depp's reputation in the media and online has been terrible lately."

Martin also noticed that, in addition to the long-standing rumors of alcohol, drugs, diva behavior, tardiness, and absenteeism, some gossip magazines and the internet began to circulate rumors about Depp's domestic violence after arguing with Amber Heard.

Although Depp specifically refuted the rumors, Amber Heard never spoke out.

Martin knew perfectly well that Musk was up to something.

The lights on the theater ceiling went out, and the big screen lit up as "The Lone Ranger" began to play.

After watching the opening credits, Brewster glanced at the audience, his eyes sweeping over them, and said in a low voice, "Including the two of us, there are less than ten people."

Martin pointed to the screen: "Watch a movie."

The director of "The Lone Ranger" is Gore Verbinski, who also directed the "Pirates of the Caribbean" trilogy. The production team is the top-notch team of Jerry Bruckheimer, and the male lead is the famous Johnny Depp. Even the male lead's character is an eccentric character that is very much in line with Depp's personal style.

From any perspective, this film possesses all the necessary elements for success.

Megan Ellison may not have been in Hollywood for many years, but she's not stupid at all. These are the key factors that allowed her to shell out $2.5 million for the production.

Of course, all these key factors were specifically delivered to Megan Ellison by Martin based on some memories from his previous life.

Martin specifically negotiated copyright licensing with Disney Studios, deliberately letting Davis Studios compete for Depp, and then feigned hiring Jerry Bruckheimer as producer, giving Megan Ellison a mature and seemingly inevitable project.

Therefore, Megan Ellison didn't hesitate to snatch the project, invest huge sums of money, and copy the homework.

To be honest, this film isn't terrible. Even compared to Jerry Bruckheimer's previous box office hits, it's definitely not the worst.

It's fair to say that Jerry Bruckheimer preserved the film's minimum standard.

But if you go into this movie with the same expectations as "Pirates of the Caribbean," you're guaranteed to be disappointed.

The couple sitting a few rows in front of Martin left before watching half of the show.

Martin persisted for a while longer, checking his phone several times, but finally, after nearly an hour and a half, he lost patience and said to Bruce, "Let's go."

Bruce was already scrolling through Twitter, chatting with three people at the same time.

Martin noticed: "Old Brooks, it's so unethical of you to be flirting with Kim, Kohler, and Jody at the same time."

Bruce completely gave up: "There's no guilt about being a degenerate scumbag."

Martin left the theater, got into his car, took off his wig and fake beard, and said, "This movie is doomed to flop."

Bruce agreed: "I'm a viewer with a high tolerance for bad movies. They're all so boring, even God couldn't save this one."

Before the car even started, Martin received a call from Max.

The chubby guy laughed heartily on the phone: "What kind of garbage is Depp's new movie? It's such a terrible film, and those film critics and media outlets have the nerve to praise it? A Western version of 'Pirates of the Caribbean'? Who gave them the courage to publish such columns?"

Martin said, "Franklin, of course."

"Yeah, that makes sense." Musk agreed. "Only Franklin could make them lie through their teeth, but bad is bad, no amount of hype will change that, especially since Depp's reputation and public image have been terrible lately."

He asked Martin, "When should I start it?"

Martin thought for a moment and said, "Once the North American opening weekend box office results are out, if the data is ideal, the investors, producers, and distributors will all abandon Depp. At that time, everything will be much easier."

Musk said, "You're the teacher in this area, I'll listen to you."

…………

With the release of "The Lone Ranger" in nearly 4000 theaters across North America, the film's previously carefully cultivated and relatively good reputation collapsed immediately.

The freshness of the rotten tomatoes changed from fresh to rotten, dropping from 82% to 41%.

On Friday night, the first day of the survey, IMDb's rating plummeted from 8.4 to 6.2 on the internet. From the website to social media, negative reviews poured in like a Pacific breeze.

"This film is a long and tedious farce."

"This is really boring. This is the first time I've left early this year."

"The Lone Ranger is as bad as Depp himself; a bad person makes a bad movie—a perfect match!"

"I'm watching 'The Lone Ranger' in the theater right now. The bad news is that I couldn't resist checking Twitter on my phone after only 30 minutes. The good news is that I've decided to leave early!"

"Seeing Depp was so distracting. What kind of character is that? He looks like a captain who has come to the American West. I can't relate to him at all."

"Depp's character is terrible, so pretentious, I've really had enough of him!"

The overwhelmingly negative reviews of "The Lone Ranger" further damaged Depp's personal reputation.

"Depp's off-screen persona has collapsed. I thought he could redeem himself with a movie role, but the role is just as bad as he is."

"I've seen both Transcendence and The Lone Ranger, and I can say with certainty that Depp is stuck in Pirates of the Caribbean and can't get out. What's even more frightening is that his real life is a mess, which will only further drag down his acting career."

"Given the awful things Johnny Depp has done, the failure of 'The Lone Ranger' is a consequence he deserved!"

Although several Depp fan groups claim that no matter what Depp does in real life, they will definitely buy tickets to support him as long as he has a new film, these die-hard fans alone cannot support the market for a big-budget movie.

Moreover, it's hard to say how many of them genuinely bought the tickets.

Because the attendance rate for "The Lone Ranger" was really poor.

On Friday night, most theaters showing "The Lone Ranger" still only had about ten viewers buying tickets.

…………

On the top floor of Columbia Building, Johnny Depp, who didn't need to participate in the promotion of "The Lone Ranger," was drinking, doing drugs, and partying with his henchmen and friends, as if the financial crisis didn't exist and the movie he starred in had already become a box office hit.

Amber Heard stood on the balcony, enjoying the night breeze and gazing at the Los Angeles cityscape. Every now and then, she would glance at the window from which the noise was coming from, her disgust almost written on her face.

She glanced at the watch Musk had given her, then picked up the poster for "The Lone Ranger," a quirky movie that had received terrible reviews online and was met with a barrage of criticism on social media platforms like Twitter.

If the film's reputation is ruined, how good can its box office be?

Amber Heard will decide her next move only after seeing the box office numbers.

After waiting for a while, her phone lit up with a text message notification; the latest data had been sent by her agent.

Amber quickly opened the text message and immediately saw the statistics for "The Lone Ranger".

On its opening day in North America, the film grossed only $756 million in nearly 4000 theaters.

Amber Heard breathed a sigh of relief, also ending her last lingering hope for Depp; the film was a box office flop!

Her husband, Johnny Depp, is also finished!

This drunkard, drug addict, and financially distressed bastard is completely unworthy of a young and beautiful top-tier woman like her.

Amber left the balcony, walked through the long corridor, and barged into the banquet hall where Depp was partying, grabbing Depp's arm and dragging him out.

Depp said, "Honey, what are you trying to do? Why are you in such a hurry today?"

Amber dragged him out, slammed the door shut, took a bottle of ice water from the refrigerator, and threw it at Depp: "Drink some water, wake up! Your movie is ruined! You're fucking ruined!"

Depp unscrewed the cap, took a sip, and said, "It's just one movie that's gone wrong. I don't need any more offers."

"Wake up!" Amber tried to provoke Depp. "You useless man, you've lost to Martin Davis!"

Upon hearing Martin's name, Depp glared at him, but after glancing at Amber for a moment, he turned and went back into the party room.

"A spineless man!" Amber muttered angrily, "A coward who wouldn't even dare to commit domestic violence!"

(End of this chapter)