John Carter of Mars

[Daniel]

For example, the '98 Dean Devlin "Godzilla" was a "flop", last summer's Godzilla was a "box-office disappointment".

That was this summer.

[EricJ]

That was this summer.

If it's after Labor Day, Memorial Day is "Last summer". Okay, "Last May", it wasn't Memorial yet.

[Daniel]

Memorial Day fell on May 27th this year and Godzilla: King of the Monsters opened up on May 31st.. so Memorial Day had just passed.

[droosan]

The very first feature film on which I contributed VFX -- Warner Bros' Red Planet -- is among the all-time biggest box office losers.

But I also later did some pre-viz work on James Cameron's Avatar .. so, it all balanced out.

-----------------

And I very much enjoyed John Carter (of Mars). It would've been nice to at least have a JC(oM) trilogy, with that cast .. but, alas.


Then again .. I also liked Cutthroat Island.

[Randall]

That's funny. Talk about career swings!

I still mourn the John Carter trilogy that we'll never see...

[Ben]

Don’t worry...sooner or later someone will reboot JC(OM) as a streaming series...

[Randall]

Sure, it only took him 100 years to get his first shot...!

[Daniel]

Taylor Kitsch interview:

Jumping back a bit, I’ve heard a surprising number of people celebrate John Carter in recent years and how it deserved a much better fate. Have you noticed how well Carter has aged?

I think it got another life when it went on Netflix not long ago, maybe a year ago or something, but, yes, to be blunt. People stop me all the time for that, especially in Europe. It’s had a little mini-resurgence. Maybe, at the time, it was more of a knee-jerk reaction of “Let’s see how we can bury this and everyone that has a part in it.” Over time, I think you take a breath and understand that it is what it is... I guess people who watch it now for the first time can take a lot more away from it than people did at first. It’s always flattering, and I learned a ton on that movie. I honestly don’t see it as a failure. I have great memories from it, and I still talk to a bunch of the cast. It is what it is, right?

[Randall]

Nice attitude. Good on ya, Taylor.

[Randall]

New "what went wrong" oral history article:

https://www.thewrap.com/john-carter-mov ... it-failed/

I think we mostly knew this already, but it's still frustrating. Stanton's line about "not a single boy would go" to a movie called A Princess of Mars makes me want to pull my (sparse) hair out. Yeah, because teenage boys hate gorgeous half-naked women and science fiction? Then, the marketing wiz took "Mars" out of the title because "Martian movies flop," leaving us with "John Carter".

And that was just the start of the awful, awful marketing...!

Ouch. Old wounds.

[EricJ]

Ah yes, back when they were trying to delve the mysterious "secret" reason why The Princess & the Frog had flopped...
Maybe it was the black heroine? Maybe parents were scared off by voodoo? Maybe boys hated the P-word?

(And of course, "All" Martian movies flop, especially when Robert Zemeckis makes them.)

[Ben]

What is it with John Carter Of Mars all of a sudden!? THR also just posted a reappraisal the other day:

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movie ... 235109193/

Ah…ten years. Hahaha…ten years! I’ll have to watch that again.