'Oh boy, critics had their venom and knives ready': Dwayne Johnson hits back as Baywatch is subject to bad reviews... after being branded a 'flop' following its cinema release

He stars as Mitch Buchannon - the character David Hasselhoff first made famous - in the movie Baywatch. 

And despite having a ball filming the remake alongside stars including Zac Efron and Kelly Rohrbach, Dwayne Johnson has been forced to hit back at those criticising their new release.

The actor, 45, took to Twitter to hit back at the harsh comments that have surfaced about the movie, insisting he has had nothing but a positive response from fans.

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Hitting back: Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson, 45, has taken to Twitter to fire back at those criticising his latest movie Baywatch - where he stars alongside Zac Efron (pictured above) 

The comedy had hit cinemas on May 25 in America, before surfacing in cinemas in the UK four days later. 

Since then, the reviews have come flooding in for the movie based on the iconic TV series that starred Pamela Anderson and Hasselhoff back in the 90s. 

After hearing that the Baywatch movie had been panned as a flop, Dwayne - also known as The Rock - made sure to dispute the claims on social media. 

He tweeted: 'Oh boy, critics had their venom & knives ready. Fans LOVE the movie. Huge positive scores. Big disconnect w/ critics & people. #Baywatch'. 

Iconic: Kelly Rohrbach takes on the role of CJ Parker originally played by Pamela Anderson in the 90s TV series

Highlighting one film critic that penned Baywatch to be an 'an action-rich laugh filled experience' within their review, Dwayne hit back at others who had watched the same screening but chose to pan the movie. 

Showing his admiration, he tweeted: 'Bold move from this critic who watched #Baywatch w/ other critics who laughed their ass off, but then they decide to trash it publicly.' 

And taking a defiant stance, he then proceeded to respond to messages from fans stating that they loved Baywatch - including one tweet that gave the movie a four-star rating.

Leading role: The actor stars as Mitch Buchannon - the character David Hasselhoff first made famous - in the movie

 

 

'Oh boy!': Dwayne has insisted fans 'LOVE' the movie in a fiery response to harsh comments that have been made about the movie being panned

Highlighting the positive response the film has received, he penned: '[Four] star review, thanks for "gettin it". We're #Baywatch! Big, sexy, dysfunctional summer fun. And Zac w/ his 28 pack abs #a**hole.

'Fans are LOVIN the movie. A few have reported "jaw stuck open" syndrome when the movie ends.

'Fans across the county havin' a BLAST & LOVING #Baywatch. Veryyy happy audience = best part of my job.'

 

 

 

 

'Veryyy happy audience': Dwayne chose to focus on the hugely positive response he has received from fans over the new release.

'A**hole': He couldn't resist poking fun at his co-star Zac Efron's chiselled abs as he responded to fans' praises

His reaction on Twitter comes after Baywatch appeared to 'flop' in cinemas over the Memorial Day weekend in the US. 

It's said the movie is only expected to bring $22million into the box office, which, compared with Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man Tells No Tales' $76.6 million, is a huge miss.

Pre-release tracking suggested the film would bring in at least $42million for the five-day weekend, though some lowered their estimates down to $37million last minute, according to Hollywood Reporter. 

The film shows Dwayne as character Mitch Buchannan, head of Emerald Bay lifeguards, who is forced to hire High School Musical star Zac's character, a disgraced Olympic gold medalist Matt Brody.

'Huge miss': Baywatch appeared to 'flop' in cinemas over the Memorial Day weekend in the US - it was released on May 25 in the US and four days later in the UK 

Audiences have given Baywatch an overall rating of a B+ CinemaScore, but the R-rated adaption of the classic 1990's television show has received otherwise poor ratings, and only got a score of 19% from Rotten Tomatoes. 

Of those audiences that reviewed it, the movie skewed slightly female, and 45 per cent of attendees were under 25, according to Hollywood Reporter. 

Critics have said the film was a flailing self-parody at best, shaping itself into a kind of 'buddy comedy' to highlight the appeal of Johnson and Efron. 

Paramount marketing and domestic distribution president Megan Colligan told Hollywood Reporter: 'I think reviews did hurt the film, which scored great in test screenings.

Underwhelming: It's said the movie is only expected to bring $22million into the box office, which, compared with Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man Tells No Tales' $76.6 million.

Harsh review: Audiences have given Baywatch an overall rating of a B+ CinemaScore, but the R-rated adaption of the classic 1990's television show has received otherwise poor ratings, and only got a score of 19% from Rotten Tomatoes

'Maybe it is a brand that relied on a positive critical reaction more than we recognized.

'But we do feel bullish about the international marketplace, where Baywatch opened this weekend in Taiwan to great numbers and well ahead of 22 Jump Street and Central Intelligence.' 

Though numbers aren't what Paramount executives were expecting, the film was relatively low cost to produce before marketing.  

Double act: In the film Dwayne's character Mitch, head of Emerald Bay lifeguards, is forced to hire Zac's character, a disgraced Olympic gold medalist Matt Brody

Review: Critics have said the film was a flailing self-parody at best , shaping itself into a kind of 'buddy comedy' to highlight the appeal of Johnson and Efron