I didn’t anticipate writing a Monday morning postmortem of Johnny Depp’s latest movie, Transcendence. I thought the film (despite bad reviews) would easily grab the #1 spot and rustle up $40 million. That didn’t happen, not even with the help of Morgan Freeman. Depp’s movie flopped and opened in fourth place behind Captain America 2, Rio 2, and (a Christian movie that I’d never heard of) Heaven is for Real.
How could this happen? This was the movie that Johnny promoted, um, not at all. Sure, he attended the premieres and did old-school photoshoots with interviews. Maybe Johnny realized this movie was a clunker because he didn’t talk about the film hardly at all. He mostly talked about his mangagement ring and wanting babies with Amber Heard.
Transcendence only pulled in $11 million this weekend (plus another $17 million overseas). Not a problem if this was a cheap indie, but Johnny doesn’t do inexpensive films. This movie was made for $100 million. Johnny got a $20 million payday, and this movie didn’t even clear that much in the US on opening weekend.
Here’s what will happen. People will wonder if Johnny has any clout beyond the Pirates movies. This is his fourth consecutive flop! The Rum Diary, The Lone Ranger, and Dark Shadows all failed to make money. Some of them squeaked past their production budgets, but a movie must pull in 250% of its budget to break even. Johnny gets paid crazy money to do stuff like ride around on a horse (with a dead bird on his head), but it won’t last much longer.
I do still admire Johnny. His older movies showed a vital, unyielding presence, but he’s lost his way. Johnny needs a break. Of course he’ll probably react by threatening to retire again. Just wait.
Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet & WENN
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