‘Lone Ranger’ Stars Say Critics Bashed Movie Before They Saw It (Video)

Johnny Depp and Armie Hammer say the critics who gave The Lone Ranger poor reviews did so based on their preconceived notions about the film.

Promoting the movie in the U.K., where the Gore Verbinski-directed Western hits theaters on Friday, Depp, Hammer and producer Jerry Bruckheimer lashed out at U.S. critics.

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“This is the deal with American critics. They’ve been gunning for our movie since it was shut down the first time, and I think that’s when most of the critics wrote their initial reviews,” Hammer says in a video posted by Yahoo’s UK Movies site, embedded below.

Depp adds: “I think most of the reviews were written when they heard Gore, Jerry and I were going to do Lone Ranger.”

He also says that he didn’t share the expectations that the film would be a blockbuster.

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Bruckheimer argued that critics were reviewing the movie’s budget, estimated to be more than $250 million, and he defended the content of the film.

Hammer goes on to claim U.S. critics tried to “do the same thing to World War Z,” but that movie went on to be well received.

“Instead, they decided to slit the jugular of our movie,” he says.