‘The Lone Ranger’ Bombs On Opening Day, Brings In $9 Million

The Lone Ranger could soon be officially classified as a flop. Critics have been tearing the new movie apart all week and now that the Disney blockbuster in theaters, audiences will finally be able to see if Tonto lives or dies.

Johnny Depp’s new movie brought in a little less than $10 million on opening day.

Now, $10 million may seem like a lot of money but it’s really only a drop in the bucket when you consider Disney spent more than $250 million to make The Lone Ranger. Yahoo News reports that Disney’s low-ball expectation for The Lone Ranger is $65 million for opening weekend but the new movie could have trouble crossing the $50 million line.

There is a bright side, however. Audiences actually seem to like the new movie.

Critics have ripped the movie apart this week. The Lone Ranger has a 23% rating on Rotten Tomatoes according to professional movie watchers. Audiences, on the other hand, have given the movie a 73% score.

The Lone Ranger could benefit from some word of mouth but that probably won’t translate to a major box office success. At the most, Disney is just hoping not to be embarrassed.

Here’s the trailer for The Lone Ranger.

The Lone Ranger’s box office results could change over the next few days. The Fourth of July is a traditionally slow movie day but the weekend after the holiday usually sees big audiences. But what are people going to see? Judging by the early premieres this week, most audiences are flocking to the new Despicable Me movie.

Steve Carrell’s animated comedy brought in $34 million during its opening night and is projected to add another $100 million by the end of the weekend.