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Matthew Huntley: Thank you, Edwin Davies, for summarizing the Vulture article and the idea that Lionsgate's marketing campaign "assumed" audiences knew who this character was, even though we didn't. Seriously, watching the trailers for Mortdecai made me feel like I was the only one who didn't know about this guy, as if I was ignorant or not up-to-speed on popular culture. The advertisements kind of made me angry as a result, and if I wasn't the only one who felt this way, no wonder the movie bombed. On top of that, I think the R-rating had something to do with the puny numbers since this cuts the potential audience down significantly. Not that making the film accessible to viewers 16 and younger would have necessarily generated a solid opening, but it may have allowed the studio to save more face.

Bruce Hall: I'll go one step further and say that not only did the marketing seem to assume we knew who this character was, it assumed that since Johnny Depp was playing him, it didn't matter.

Well, anyone who wanted to see how well that strategy works had to look no further than Dark Shadows.

I'm not going to get too in depth in my thoughts on Depp, because it looks like we're going to have that discussion later. But I can say that the shine is off him, and even casual moviegoers seem to have had enough, for the time being. Mortdecai will do nothing to remove the stench of death from his current career trajectory. And while I'm sure he's in no danger of losing his house(s), if he wants to remain relevant as an actor, it's time to make some changes - and I'm not talking Pirates 5.

Michael Lynderey: I think I'm reasonably certain in saying Mortdecai is Johnny Depp's worst film as a lead actor (and I liked The Lone Ranger - quite a bit, actually!). The odd thing is that the trailer for Mortdecai looked kind of fun. It seems many did not share my sentiments on that, although more agreed with my view on the film itself. Once the reviews started crawling in on Wednesday, the fix was in and they killed any chance the movie had of hitting even double-digits (ever).

David Mumpower: I knew the movie was in trouble when I saw the trailer and was thoroughly amused. I've become some sort of anti-bellwether with regards to comedies lately. I thought Horrible Bosses 2 looked great, too. Anytime a commercial makes me laugh, that movie's accountants should brace for the worst.

Kim Hollis: What has happened to Johnny Depp over the last five years?

Jason Barney: For Depp, this is concerning. The only project he has been involved with in the last four years that gets any sort of praise is Into the Woods. He was nicely cast in that, but was a background character. Transcendence was totally rejected by American audiences, but somehow made $80 million overseas. Everyone points to the Lone Ranger as the center of the earthquake that has become Depp’s career. Dark Shadows wasn’t the huge failure many make it out to be, but it didn’t light the world on fire. You have to go all the way back to Pirates 4 for any sort of relevance. Even that one was the weakest entry in the series, although it did make over $1 billion worldwide.

Will Depp get back to form? Will he return to the lofty levels of his earlier career? Probably not. There have been 19 films worldwide to earn a billion dollars and he was the star of three of them. He’s got a nice track record behind him, but he probably peaked years ago. That is not to say he still can’t be in good projects that make tons of money, but we certainly aren’t seeing that now.

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