News
Analyzing 'Rum Diary' Flop
Oct. 31, 2011-Johnny Depp is one of Hollywood’s brightest stars, but his The Rum Diary is a flop that the Hollywood Reporter analyzes. Based on the hijinks of the late gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson, who Depp was friends with, The Rum Diary rang up just $5 million over the Oct 28-30 premiere weekend (snow on the East Coast damped box office, but that hit all movies). The $45 million movie, which was rated R, ranked fifth, trailing even two older hold-over movies.
“In addition to a Vanity Fair cover, Depp went out on the road on behalf of the film, doing a college tour that saw him visit UC Berkeley, the University of Texas at Austin and Columbia University,” writes Gregg Kilday in the Hollywood Reporter. “Depp’s visit to Austin did hit one roadblock when a reporter for local ABC affiliate KVUE news claimed ‘no ABC affiliates were allowed to get an interview or video of Depp at the event because of a Disney contract revolving around his newest Pirates of the Caribbean film.’ Disney did not respond to THR's request for comment.” Pirates is a Walt Disney release and ABC Television is a corporate sibling.
This movie is supposed to be a passion project for Depp, but the high voltage star of the Alice in Wonderland and other hit films did not lend his image to the one-sheet ad for The Rum Diary, which is a rather flat though stylized text treatment. Presumably, the advertising agency didn’t have much to work with. The Hollywood Reporter article quotes FilmDistrict as saying the movie turned out to be more of a cult fan subject than mainstream.
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www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/johnny-depp-rum-diary-tanks-255093
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