It's rough when you get on an entire city's bad side, but Johnny Depp probably should've thought about that when he threw Wichita, Kansas under the bus during his press rounds for "The Rum Diary." In an effort to defend the flick, which was widely regarded as one of the actor's "bigger box office flops," the star told The Guardian, "I believe that this film, regardless of what it makes in, you know, Wichita, Kansas, this week — which is probably about $13 — it doesn't make any difference." Depp added, "I think it's an intelligent film. ... And a lot of times, outside the big cities in the States, they don't want that."
Residents of Wichita, which has a population just shy of 390,000, were rightly displeased with Depp's assumption that they weren't smart enough for the film. Local cinema owner Bill Warren even flatly told The Wichita Eagle (via The Guardian) what every other resident was probably thinking: "That's just sour grapes. Last time I heard, it didn't do well in New York, either. ... It wasn't a very entertaining movie, period." The feud was big enough that it garnered a headline in The Atlantic. Meanwhile, The Wichita Eagle later revealed that The Atlantic Wire had dubbed the city the war's ultimate winner.
Considering "The Rum Diary" has a 36% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, it's probably safe to admit that Wichita residents weren't the only ones who thought it wasn't very good.
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