Lifetime’s Liz & Dick: What Were The Ratings For The Elizabeth Taylor Biopic?

November 27, 2012 by Hollywoodite

The Lifetime biopic that required a premiere just so Lindsay Lohan had the opportunity to keep people waiting for two hours had its television premiere on Sunday.

Ahead of its release, it was mercilessly excoriated by critics who mocked Lohan’s flawed, wandering accent (“Liz Taylor” was supposed to have a slight accent, but it should have been consistent in Lohan’s portrayal). People also commented on the distracting smoker’s voice/ the wigs/ the incessant costume changes/ Lohan’s weird hands/ the cheap green screen/ the acting and everything else that was wrong with this movie. Judging by the amount of activity about it on Twitter a lot of people including media were watching and, going by the reviews, they didn’t like what they saw.

About which Lohan’s reportedly “devastated.” A source says: “She knew the script wasn’t strong but thought she would bring the role of Elizabeth to life… This is particularly heartbreaking as her acting was the only thing in her life that she knew was real. Now she is doubting that, too.” Which basically means the critical failure will be blamed on someone else.

Another source says: “She has got used to all the negative press around her personal life but this is the first time she has experienced it about her work. No matter how bad things were going for her personally, everyone would always agree that she was a great actress.”

And it got mediocre ratings, becoming Lifetime’s fourth biggest first-run cable movie of the year with 3.5 million viewers, behind the 6.5 million people who watched Lifetime’s Steel Magnolias remake and the 5.8 million people who watched Drew Peterson: Untouchable and the 4.09 million viewers who watched Abducted: The Carlina White Story.