Lone Ranger could lose Disney $150m

The less-than-frisky performance from 'The Lone Ranger' could lose its studio Disney as much as $150 million (£100m / €116m), according to reports.

It was initially thought that the film, fronted by Armie Hammer as the Lone Ranger and Johnny Depp as his sidekick Tonto, was set to lose in the region of $100 million.

Now, according to the Hollywood Reporter, the loss could be quite significantly more than that.

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Its first five days on release in the US saw it net $48.9 million, and though that may not sound too bad, it has to contend with a $250 million production budget and another $175 million thought to have been spent on marketing and promotion.

Analysts suggest that it will end up making $125 million in the US and a further $150 million overseas, totalling around $275 million in all, some considerable way short of its $425 million (£285m / €331m) target.

The massive loss for Disney is its second flop in recent years.

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'John Carter', released in 2011, saw the company write off a loss of $200 million when the expensive sci-fi blockbuster failed to capture the cinema-going public's imagination.

Head of distribution at Disney Dave Hollis told The Wrap: “The frustrating part for us is that we had all the ingredients here.

“You take a classic franchise, team the world’s most successful producer, an award-winning director and the biggest movie star in the world and you think your chances of success are pretty good. But we just didn’t make it work.”

The film, directed by 'Pirates of the Caribbean' veteran Gore Verbinski, has received roundly negative reviews too, with a 25% 'fresh' rating on reviews aggregator Rotten Tomatoes.

Though the studio will take a substantial hit from the movie, it's thought that it will weather the storm thanks to the huge profits from Pixar's 'Monsters University' and Marvel's 'Iron Man 3'.