Case Study US Blockbuster: Star Trek (2009)

Star Trek is a sci-fi action/adventure film released in 2009. The original production budget for this film was $150 million, and during its lifetime is has made over $385 million worldwide, $75 million of which was in its opening weekend alone. The films popularity can be attributed to the fact that is a reboot of the star trek franchise, widely regarded as the most profitable sci-fi franchise on the planet.

 The film features several big name stars. Chris Pine as Kirk, whose current success was fuelled by the film. Before star trek he mainly played parts in rom-coms such as 'Just my luck' or insignificant minor roles. Zachary Quinto as Spock, who prior to star trek was mainly playing roles in tv shows such as 'heroes'. Karl Urban as Bones, who prior to starring in star trek, played some minor roles in films such as The Bourne Supremacy and lord of the rings, but has since gone on to star in Judge Dredd and other films. The film also featured Simon Pegg in the role of Scotty, who was extremely well known for his roles in films and tv shows prior to star trek, which tended to be mostly of the comedy genre, such as Shaun of the dead and Hot Fuzz, which may explain why he was chosen for one of the more comedic roles in the film. The film also featured Leonard Nimoy as 'spock prime' although not a major role in the film, this could be seen as action on the side of the film to appeal to fans of the original tv series the film is based around and rebooted from and persuade these fans to watch the film.

 The genre of the film is largely action, adventure and sci-fi. Which explains the popularity of the film, as blockbusters are usually of the action/adventure genre to appeal to audiences who expect action packed movies from films released during the summer season, the film opened in may and closed in october, meeting the definition of a summer blockbuster. The film made $257,730,019 domestic and $127,950,427 outside of the US, equalling over $385,000,000 worldwide compared to its original budget of $150 million. The film managed to make the number 1 rank at over 3000 theatres. The production company was paramount pictures, who are an extremely famous production company and have produced many other well known blockbuster films, such as the transformers franchise, Iron Man, and Indiana Jones, which are also action films. The film was also produced by spyglass entertainment, who although less successful than paramount, produced wanted and the hitchhikers guide to the galaxy, both other action/adventure films.

The film was rated PG-13 in America and a 12A in the UK for "Sci-f1 action and violence" as well as "brief sexual content" this fairly low certificate means that the film can be seen by families together during the summer holidays, increasing the possible audience for the film significantly.

 The marketing for the film began with a trailer played before Cloverfield in 2008, the trailer featured the ship the 'enterprise' under construction while voices from the 60s played in the background, establishing the films connection with the original tv series. However, Paramount found that there was an obstacle to their marketing campaign in that the franchise would be mostly unfamiliar to many of the current generation, as well as the poor performance of the previous star trek movies which were related to the various incarnations of star treks tv shows. Eventually the director JJ Abrams, decided that paramount needed to remove the 'nerdy' stigma, attached to the star trek franchise, Abrams did this by repeatedly stating to the press that the film is not for star trek fans necessarily. There were also several promotional partners connected to the film, including: Nokia, Kellogg's and Burger King.  There were also companies selling perfumes, clothes and other apparel related to the film, as well as several toy manufacturers such as mattel and hasbro, who sold related versions of monopoly and others games.

The film was extremely well received, receiving 95% on Rotten Tomatoes, and an 8.0 on IMDB most critics agreed that the film was one of the years most accessible and enjoyable, as well as being a much needed 'shot in the arm' for the franchise, and that it honoured the shows legacy while avoiding indulging in pointless nostalgia.

British Cinema Case Study: The World's End

The worlds end is a british made Sci-fi/comedy film. The film had a budget of $20 million and made over $46 million worldwide, making $8 million of which on its opening weekend, and almost half of its profit abroad.

The film stars Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, who have previously been extremely successful with their comedy partnership in other films of the same genre, specifically in Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, which although extremely popular, only made half the domestic opening of World's End (hot fuzz) whereas Shaun of the Dead opened to only £3 million, making this movie the most successful of the 'trilogy', indicating a growing audience for these types of films, specifically abroad in the US, where some cinemas even held marathons of all three films in the trilogy, which are estimated to have contributed over $800,000 to the final profits according to the distributers. The movie also appeals to fans of these films who wish to see the two reunited in another film. The film co-stars other british household names, such as Martin Freeman, who has recently become a very popular actor due to his starring role in The Hobbit.

The genre is mostly comedy, a genre that british films typically excel at and proves very popular, even abroad, this along with what is termed the 'monty python effect' the appeal of typically 'british' quirky brand of humour having appeal in the US and other places abroad, could explain the appeal of the film to foreign audiences. The film also has strong messages of counter culture, standing against the consumer driven production of hollywood films, which may also explain some of its success to audiences who want to see a movie with underlying social messages, or films different from the usual hollywood fare.

The film is also of the sci-fi/action genre appealing to the average cinema goer and as the release date of the film was late August, appealing to the dwindling summer blockbuster crowds, who typically covet action films. The production company for the film was 'Working Title films', a british production company who have previously produced other british films of note, including Bridget Jones, Shaun of the Dead and Hot fuzz, as well as costume dramas, another genre of british film that does exceptionally well.

The film was rated a 15 by the bbfc for extremely strong language, as well as frequent strong sex references, by rating the film a 15 the audience is significantly limited as it excludes the family and children market, however the films genre would not be one that typically appeals to children, and the type of comedy used in the film would be limited to adult understanding, which is what the audiences would be expecting, given previous films of the same genre such as shaun of the dead. The appeal of the previous films made with the same actors and production companies work towards ensuring its appeal to 15 and above audiences despite. The film was marketed heavily in the media, with tv spots and adverts as well as conventional billboard advertising, but it was also actively marketed on social networking sites, with the director of the film, Edgar Wright actively advertising the film on his twitter account, where he has a large amount of followers, Simon Pegg also mentioned the film numerous times on his own twitter, where he has over 3 million followers, thanking american and canadian fans for their support in the production of the film. The film was very well received, receiving an 89% rating on rotten tomatoes, and a 7.2 on IMDB. Critics were generally very positive, with most saying that the film stands out on its own above the other two films in the trilogy as chaos driven, hilarious fun.

Blue is the warmest colour - Success

Blue is the warmest colour is a french independent film that had a budget of $5.4, so far it has made $6 worldwide. The plot of film revolves around the life changing journey of a girl called Adele as she falls in love with another girl called Emma. The audience for this film is fairly limited in the UK, The running time of over three hours, combined with its spoken language being french with english subtitles limits the appeal to a wider audience, constricting its audience to art film houses, who would be inclined to watch the film due to its social message, the critical acclaim and film awards and its offer of something different to watch compared to the usual hollywood fare.

Aims and Context: Creative Project

Practical Coursework

Aims and context:
-Horror, climactic sequence
-Extended Step Outline
-Target audience of 18+ horror fans of both genders
-Apply cinematography techniques similar to other films of the same genre such as Silent Hill and Chernobyl Diaries
-Explore codes and conventions of genre

Reflective Analysis - Film Noir Production

The genre our group was given was Film Noir. We aimed to make a scene about a dangerous femme fatale and her love interest, while staying in line with typical narrative conventions of the film noir genre such as murder and corruption. I think we were fairly successful in achieving the look and style of what we were aiming for, however I think the use of the background music combined with the use of some slow motion shots and the dead body, which are also conventions of horror as well as film noir meant that the scene could almost be mistaken for a horror if the viewer wasn't aware that we had intended it to be a film noir. I believe this issue could have been rectified if we had had more time to complete the project and specifically if we had had more time to film extra shots to use in our film which could have expanded the plot of our clip and better expressed the genre we were aiming for, unfortunately we didn't get the chance because of members of the group being absent on the day we had extra time to do so. I believe that as a group we could also have cooperated and organized ourselves alot better as there was alot of confusion while filming as to what the actual plot of what we were filming was going to be due to poor organization during the time we had to storyboard and plan the scene.

Analysis of One Missed Call- draft

How does the use of mise-en-scene and lighting create suspense in the reality TV sequence from One Missed Call.

The plot of the film is based around a curse that is transmitted through voicemail recordings of the characters death, sent from the immediate future via the characters own cellphone. At this point in the film three of the group of friends central to the film have already died through falling prey to the curse. The character this scene is based around, Natsumi, also receives one of these messages and is bombarded by film crews and journalists who have heard about the curse. One of these television crew members offers to help her, claiming to know a priest who can perform an exorcism, her friend is afraid they'll exploit and embarrass her on television but Natsumi is so desperate to stop the curse she agrees to go with them to the studio. This is where the scene I'm analysing begins. The mise-en-scene in the beginning of the scene immediately features extremes of the colours red black and blue in the background, these contrast heavily with each other and could represent the extremes of emotion being portrayed in the scene by the central character. The colours also seem to be significant of different aspects of the narrative; the black or darkness representing the unknown aspects of the ghost, the red representing the danger of the situation or possibly the presence of something satanic or hellish, the blue represents the cold and isolation felt by the character, trapped in her own world of fear. The use of red is recurrent within many aspects of the mise-en-scene. Almost all of the camera or on air lights seen in the background are red and present a stark contrast to the low key, shadowy lighting. During a mid-angle mid-shot of her praying, the red lights in the background look especially sinister, almost like eyes watching from the darkness. There is also red in the use of the wooden flame torches, mirroring the hellish connotations of the red in the scene. Following this there is a low angle extreme long shot of the studio, this could almost be a POV shot from the perspective of the ghost, foreshadowing the fact that the danger later in the scene will be based at floor level. There is also a panning shot to cover the length of the studio, highlighting the fact that the scene is taking place in a television studio should work to make the viewer feel secure as typical horror conventions dictate that nothing bad can be about to happen if the protagonist is within a large group of people, however here we are given the strong impression that the exact opposite is true and the use of a brief voiceover narrative where she mentions how alone she feels highlights this. Despite the feeling of security the studio should be offering her we are given the impression that she believes nothing can be done to save her, making the safety of the studio and people around her redundant and inducing a sense of dread and anticipation in the viewer. Building on this sense of dread is another aspect of the mise-en-scene in the use of a straight cut to an extreme close up of a timer counting down. This creates a frustrated reaction in the audience as we are made painfully aware of the futility of the efforts to save her from a fate that the audience is already well aware is inescapable.

The mise-en-scene used in the decoration of the studio could be seen as symbolic of the superficial nature of the reality TV show and its attempts to help Natsumi as a whole. Through an extreme long shot of the studio floor, there are plastic trees visible in the background, the idea of an unnatural recreation of something that was originally natural and living is almost a metaphor for the the ghost. There is also a cut to close up shots of the priest performing the exorcism as shown on the monitors in the studio, highlighting the fact that the exorcism is being orachstated for entertainment value as opposed to a genuine desire to help Natsumi. In One Missed Call there are overarching themes of cynisism and distrust towards cellphones. Disturbing uses of modern technologies is a theme prevalent throughout many recent Japanese horror films, The Ring (1998) and Shutter (2004) are both example of which in their portrayal of televisions/video tapes and cameras respectively. In both these movies there are many other similarities to One Missed Call in both mood and conventions. Japanese horror conventions are different in many ways to western horror conventions. One of the most well-known Japanese horror conventions is the ‘Asian ghost girl’, typically identified by extremely long black hair that covers her face and a white gown. This convention has featured in many recent Japanese movies and arguably began with The Ring(1998). This convention has since become so well known even across cultures, that it was recently featured in a western horror movie in the deconstruction/comedy sub-genre of horror in Cabin in the Woods (2012) Although western remakes of Japanese horror films typically fall short of achieving the same reception as the Japanese originals, The Ring’s western remake was actually very well received. This could be in part due to the use of the original convention of the Asian ghost girl. However the western remake of One Missed Call was given a very ill reception. This could be due to the shift from the coventional ghost girl as the main supernatural force to a more benign villain.

The Ring features many of the same conventions used in One missed Call, there are basic similarities in narrative structure as well as the use of associated diegetic sounds with the ghost girl’s appearance. In One Missed Call there is the iconic ringtone, whereas in The Ring, there is the use of static and squealing violins. However the two are dissimilar in that when heard out of context the ringtone could be said to sound sweet as opposed to sinister. This eventually causes an associated reaction of fear to the ringtone, as the connotations of the phone ringing contrast heavily with the disarmingly sweet tone. However, the use of static and squealing violins in The Ring are now a horror convention, thus when they’re used the viewer is instantly expecting something to happen. Another similarity to One Missed call within Shutter is the use of the long black hair of the ghost appearing in unnatural places to invoke both fear and shock in the audience. Both films also make use of the extremely low key lighting and shadows to hide the ghosts in the background of the shot until the audience notices them, causing shock or a jump scare. An example of the fear created by hiding a ghost in the shadow is done during One Missed Call, where a mid angle two shot of the frightened character at the forefront of the shot leads to the use of a focus change to bring only the ghost in the background into focus, surprising the viewer. It is also very similar in its frequent useage of red light. Red light is used within One Missed Call after she draws back repulsed from the ghosts hair entangling her feet, which is shown through a low angle shot to illustrate that the ghost is based at floor level, there is a low angle close up of her face as a red light falls across it. This could represent the extreme fear she is feeling during that point of the scene, or an indicator of the immediate danger she is facing. Red light is also featured within One Missed Call during an extreme close up of the cursed phone ringing, the lights on the outside of the phone flash between red and green. The red could represent danger or a warning while the green represents the sickly and unnatural nature of the reason the phone is ringing.

As the scene draws to a close, the originally slow pacing begins to change as through a low angle long shot of the studio floor we see the priest performing the exorcism literally blown backwards and through the set by the supernatural force, this alone could represent that the evils at work are more powerful than religion. As the scene begins to quicken in pace even more and things get out of hand, we see clearly the sets collapsing through high angle extreme long shots as the crew members flee in fear. This could also represent the illusion of safety being presented to her collapsing, as the cold dark walls revealed behind the sets contrast heavily with their previous red fabric coverings, adding to the extremes of heat and cold presented in the scene. By losing the religious iconography, as well as the collapse of the set, there is the unnerving sense of all safety being lost. Following this, during the climax of the scene, the characters body begins to become twisted and distorted by the ghost. Here there is the use of many dutch angles and switches in camera shot, from mid shots to close up and then extreme close ups of the girls agonised face, cut together to create an extremely fast pace, contrasting heavily with the slow paced build up of the start of the scene.This all comes together to make the scene even more disturbing to the viewer as it creates a sense of disorientation and dizziness, combined with the flashing blue lights in the background and the extremely low key background lighting it becomes difficult to clearly see the characters face besides through the extreme close ups, where we can clearly see the pain and fear on her face in minute detail. It also becomes extremely difficult to take in what is actually happening during the scene, again creating fear in the viewer through the fear of the unknown convention.

Analysis of The Shining

Analysis of two scenes from ‘The Shining’

The Shining (1980) is an American horror film directed by Stanley Kubrick. It is broadly a horror however it also falls into the subgenre of psychological horror. As a horror film, it follows several specific conventions of the horror genre. Such conventions as an isolated setting (the overlook hotel), overarching themes of insanity, death and survival as well as technical conventions like point of view shots and extreme close ups. However in some respects it also bucks many of the typical conventions of the horror genre, for example its use of a lot of high key lighting. The ways in which the shining does not follow typical horror conventions could arguably be said to make the film scarier. Audiences expect certain things from a horror movie and by disregarding these typical conventions the movie places the viewer on the back foot, leaving them more open to being surprised and scared. The shining is famous for its strong iconography, images such as ‘redrum’, the overlook hotel and room 237 as well as many other key symbols of the film have become so strongly associated with the horror genre that they are constantly referenced or paid homage to throughout many other areas of media.

The first scene I’ve chosen to analyse is the first time that room 237 is open to Danny and his subsequent unseen assault by an anonymous assailant within the room. As Danny approaches room 237 we can clearly see the room number on the key hanging from the door. This instantly makes the viewer remember earlier in the film, where Danny was explicitly warned to stay away from room 237 straight away this creates tension within the viewer as we are already aware of the dangers that may exist within the room. The room key itself is red and this is connotative of the danger within the room and could also serve as a warning to Danny not to enter as red is the colour of warning signs. The colour red also appears when the scene cuts to Jack asleep on his desk. Jack is wearing a red coat which he is also wearing later during the climax of the film. This could possibly be foreshadowing as during the scene Jack describes to Wendy his dream wherein he murders both Wendy and Danny. The fact that jack is wearing the red coat could suggest that he himself is dangerous or could also represent blood or even his future murderous intent towards his family. Danny’s clothes during this scene could also be symbolic. He is wearing a knitted sweater featuring a design with the words ‘USA’ and ‘Apollo’ the name of the rocket from the first American moon landing. These clothes could be symbolic of America and American values as a whole, later in the scene when Danny is approaching Jack and Wendy in the main room, we see that his jumper has been torn at and now has a large rip in it. Throughout the movie there are numerous subtle references to Native American culture. The most important of which is during the scene where Wendy and jack are being given a tour of the overlook and are told that the hotel was built on a Native American burial ground, this gives us an important clue as to who or what exactly could be causing the disturbances within the hotel. Through these clues within this scene we can assume that the occurrences, and Danny’s supernatural assailant were vengeful spirits, angry at the American values which led to the overlook, a symbol of American innovation with disregard for anything aside from profit, being built upon and desecrating their resting place. Danny’s torn shirt could show some of the anger felt by these spirits towards the family within the hotel.

Later in the film, Jack discovers the party happening in the gold room. The first shot of this scene has jacks head framed against a tapestry in the background. This tapestry has an interesting pattern which looks almost Native American style. This could be symbolic of him entering the world of the spirits of the hotel or symbolise him almost stepping into their world. In this scene there are many of uses of the colour red. There are red chairs in the hallway as he is approaching the ball room. Among the rest of the décor in the hallways which is gold and elegant, the simple red chairs look very vulgar and almost out of place. This could mirror how out of place Jack obviously is in within the party and maybe within the hotel in general. His everyday clothes also look extremely out of place compared to everyone else in the gold room who are dressed extremely formally, they are also wearing dated clothes, giving a clue to what time period these apparitions are from and also foreshadowing the very end of the movie where the camera slow zooms towards a black and white photograph of jack with a large group of people at a party dated from 1921. The colour red comes up again as Lloyd the bar tenders uniform is also red. This could represent that his character is dangerous. The fact that Lloyd’s character is dangerous is also shown through the use of Lloyd’s dialogue upon refusing Jacks offer to pay for his drink, which is incredibly sinister. In it he mentions that he has “orders from the house”. In the context of the movie this has several connotations, the most startling of which is the suggestion that the hotel itself is almost sentient and aware of the events transpiring within it. This also taps into the fear of the unknown convention within horror films, as we can only imagine who Lloyd is receiving these orders from. Grady is also wearing a red jacket later in the scene. Once again this has connotations of danger about the character, and after Jack realises that he is the previous caretaker who murdered his family, his red uniform could represent the spilt blood of his children or his murderous intentions. Grady’s character also seems extremely sinister through his use of dialogue during the part of the scene where he asks Jack is he is aware that Danny is attempting to use the shining to contact Halloran. This seems to be suggesting that he is also aware of the entirety of the situation within the hotel and makes him appear to be an almost omnipotent extension or element of the hotels consciousness. The bathroom during which this part of the hotel takes place is again sticking to the theme of the colour red. This could be symbolic of a number of things as it is this scene which seems to be the turning point for Jacks sanity. It is also the scene where rather than the suggested idea of something supernatural lurking within the hotel this is the point of the film where both the viewer and the characters realise that the supernatural presence is actually incredibly strong and the ‘monster’ is revealed for the first time. It could also be foreshadowing of the danger that is to come thanks to Grady’s suggestions to Jack that he ‘take care’ of his family, the same way that Grady murdered his own, because of this it may be the scene where Jack finally decides to murder his family. The bathroom walls are also covered in mirrors. The use of mirrors throughout the film are recurrent and seem to be gradually building in how noticeable their placement is until this scene where there are many. The mirrors may represent the fractured or distorted representations of reality that are being presented to Jack, or may be representative of the many different sides of his personality shown by the character at this point in the film.

Favourite movie of the summer - The Thirteenth Floor

The thirteenth Floor (1999)

The film opens on a quote from the famous French philosopher Rene Descartes. “I think therefore I am” this proves to be the overarching theme of the film. The film takes place in a world like our own however technology has advanced to the point where scientists have created virtual worlds with sentient inhabitants. These virtual ‘people’ are not aware of the fact that their worlds are virtual creation. This fact is the main cause of moral dilemma for the protagonists and engineers of the virtual world and the point which the plot revolves around. Personally I enjoyed this movie on many levels, firstly the genre of the movie is sci-fi which is one of my favourite film genres. As a sci-fi film you would expect the technology featured to look light years ahead of our times current technology and this it did excellently. The technology used within the film looked realistic as well as futuristic, as though this very technology could exist within our own universe any day soon. This makes the moral issues raised by the film even more relevant as it invites the viewer to ponder what they would do in the same situation as the characters and where you would stand on the moral issues presented to the characters. This aids the connection you feel with the characters and how deeply you care about their plight as they battle the issue of if they have the right to be the ‘gods’ of this universe they have created, this links back to the quote at the start of the movie “I think therefore I am” as this idea of a created world is easily applicable back to our own universe back again, what is there to say our own universe isn’t some virtual creation which could just as easily be shut down by its creators as those in the film. The film is extremely poignant in its telling of the story and even after the film was over I found myself experiencing a minor existential crisis as a result of the issues raised in the film. I was also left to consider what it was that makes a person ‘real’ after all and if it is simply just the ability to recognise your own existence within your world, as suggested by the plot of the movie and the “I think therefore I am” quote yet again. In our own world where technology is advancing more rapidly than ever before and more and more of these moral questions about how much of a right we have to dabble in areas previously left to nature such as in the areas of medicine with recent debate over issues such as cloning and the ability to grow organs and so on, this debate over what rights we have to do with the technology now available to us as a race makes this film and the questions raised by it increasingly more relevant as time goes on.

Trainspotting Analysis

The clip begins with a long shot which establishes the setting as a club, the lighting also helps us understand the setting. The clothes of Renton establish his character and the time that this film is set in, his clothes are scruffy and they look old as though they're hand-me-downs. Renton appears disheveled and just generally out of place in the club. The clip then cuts from Renton to the two men sitting apart form the rest of the club having their own discussion, with a slow zoom. The lighting around the two men is blue, for me this could mirror their conversation showing they're out in the cold with their girlfriends. The writing on the wall is an intertextual reference to A Clockwork Orange with the theme of drugs.

 

The clip then cuts to their girlfriends in the bathroom, it features an over-the-shoulder mid-shot of them looking in the mirror and talking, the use of the mirror emphasises their facial expressions and their conversation which is also what the two guys sitting on their own are talking about. Later in the clip the camera focuses on Renton and when he finally decides to join the rest of the people on the dance floor. The camera switches from a close-up of Renton's face to a two-shot of the women dancing and the disgust on their faces as Renton approaches them, the camera then changes back to a close-up of Renton's face which shows his indifference to the rejection, this called a shot-reverse-shot.

The lighting in the club alternates between green and red this is symbolic of people's emotions within the club. The green represents Renton's jealousy of the couples on the dance floor and his recovering from sickness and addiction of heroin. Also, the red compliments his narrating as he is talking about sex and the colour red is associated with lust and love. Later on in the clip you see Diane standing alone in white light, this could represent her divorced presence from the everyone else in the club. The white light may also have angelic connotations to Renton, she could represent Renton's saviour from the rest of the drunken, drugged mess of people on the dance floor.

 

As Diane leaves the club she puts on a red coat, suggesting that her attitude has changed and her character is less innocent than she appears to be in the club when she is standing in the white light. Towards the end of this part of the scene the camera cuts to a two shot of both Diane and Renton facing each other while she delivers her speech to him. In the background of this shot we see the colours red and blue. These colours between them both may be representative of the feelings they have towards each other. The blue representing the icy reaction Diane seems to have towards Renton's proposition towards her, while the red represents the sexual tension between the two.

Why was the Lone Ranger considered a box office failure?

Why was the Lone Ranger considered a box office failure?

One of the main reasons was the hugely excessive budget allocated by Disney. At a budget of $250 million many critics believe that for a movie with only two characters the budget did not need to be so huge. As the movie was a retelling of an originally simple western, it also need not have had so much effort placed on the effects which cost a huge sum of money and made it next to impossible to make the huge budget back at the box office.

The combination of the director Gore Vebinksi and actor Johnny Depp is also important as in their previous movies the pair have made a lot of money for Disney so pairing them together in another movie made obvious sense on the surface. However even if the audience were attracted by the actors and director it still didn’t take off as expected. Johnny Depp personally blamed negative critical; response towards to film, claiming critics had it out for the film before it was even in the cinemas. When a movie opens its fate relies heavily on the reporting of the media much like political reporting, when the media decides a movie is in trouble it begins a death spiral that’s nearly impossible to escape. This coupled with bad rumours surrounding the movie during its production, along with allegations that the production had been shut down at one point. On top of bad reviews and bad word of mouth, the modern interest in western movies is arguably minimum, summer blockbuster movies usually aim to be an easily recognisable franchise, this may explain why the sequel to Despicable Me made almost three times the amount made by the lone ranger on its opening weekend. The Lone Ranger is not a widely known franchise, especially among the age groups aimed at by the film, due to it being over 80 years old, because of this the only audience who would be able to connect with the original story would more likely be the grandparents of Disney’s actual intended audience.

Its failure to connect with critics was also extreme, On Rottentomatoes.com the movie scored a mere 28% positive reviews, with one critic calling the movie a 2frustrating exercise in overkill, a kind-of, sort-of interesting idea but buried in summer-movie excess.” Another critic added “An appealing pair of leads, but they’re not enough to make up for the Lone Rangers bland script, bloated length and blaring action overkill.” The movie is also 149 minutes long, this when compared with older classics from the western genre, which were shot on tight budgets but still achieved success, makes the Lone Ranger look like an exercise in overkill of length as well as overkill of budget.