C'mon Hollywood: What happened with John Carter?
Mar. 13, 2012
This past weekend everyone seemed to be waiting with baited breath to see just how badly JOHN CARTER would do in theaters. Many (mostly fan boys) were excited to see the film, but overwhelming amounts were hungry to see Disney bleed. Although most fans of the genre walked away with positive remarks (despite a 50/50 split on reviews), the film failed to bring in massive numbers.
Audiences, much like Hollywood, will gamble on what they think is a sure thing. If you wonder why you see so many crappy movies that feel like overcooked sequels or monotonous franchises, then look no further than the box office for TRANSFORMERS, GROWN-UPS, TWILIGHT, SHREK, and THE CHIPMUNKS to name just a few. All of these are typically movies people say they hate, yet were massive successes at the box office, continuing the lifeline of celluloid crap. So, why did they succeed more than JOHN CARTER?
Most of the fault lies in marketing. For one, they could’ve worked harder to get director Andrew Stanton to play ball in the live-action realm. Giving the keys to the city to any director is a gamble and a little oversight wouldn’t hurt, especially when your gamble is $250 million. Also, dropping the “of Mars” from the title seems to be a major problem for most people and Disney should’ve stuck with it. The movie is about John Carter…on Mars. Your typical moviegoer is not going to be drawn to a simple name. Yeah, Mars movies have got some bad stigma to begin with, but it’s not like Disney execs didn’t know that when they greenlit the damn thing.
The title should have been: Edgar Rice Burroughs’ JOHN CARTER OF MARS. Each trailer and poster should reiterate who the hell Burroughs was (creator of Tarzan? Hello?) and why this property matters. There’s a lot of significance in what Burroughs’ work did for future generations and to ignore that is just stupid. Everyone from Lucas to Cameron has already torn their share of meat off the corpse, so it may do some good to remind people of whose corpse it was to begin with.
Secondly, the first full trailer should’ve been the first teaser, then built from there. When fan-made trailers eclipse your own in-house trailers then you know you have problems. While not everybody with Adobe Premiere is a stellar editor, there are some talented amateurs out there. Studios failing to heed that are in the wrong. You’re having your fan base SHOW you what they want for God’s sake! Take a hint!
The full trailer should’ve given enough back story into who JOHN CARTER was (i.e. his civil war roots and personal dilemma’s on Earth) and built up the fish-out-of-water story (show him discovering how to walk again, etc.). It should have introduced the struggle, building to a climax that leaves you feeling like you were just on a rollercoaster. Also, if your plot is going to be even mildly convoluted, then use some damn voice over. JOHN CARTER would’ve benefitted from a gravelly voice telling us what’s up.
Lastly, the posters and promotional materials were weak. Aside from the sweet Mondo poster, the red-and-orange-tinted posters are loud and obnoxious. There’s not much about them that would make you want to hang them on your wall. I think the marketing department failed miserably by not taking a cue from the Frazetta paintings that emulated the world of JOHN CARTER so well in the past and run with that concept. The movie is a genre throwback, so why shouldn’t the promotional material be as well? The marketing failed to inject the importance of the work until everyone had already wiped their cynical asses with the movie. It was too little, too late.
The saddest part about JOHN CARTER’s less than stellar opening is that it’s actually a good movie. It’s not perfect and has its problems, but the majority of film-loving people agree that it’s good, if not great. I foresee it being a moderate success with a cult following, but it’s doubtful it will generate enough money to see any future incarnations. It’s box office won’t be anywhere near as dismal as the naysayers would like, but it’s unlikely it will break any records. If anything, I think JOHN CARTER proves that even if you make a good film, a failure in marketing can sink its success, leaving it bested by a shitty Dr. Seuss movie that no one will remember.
| Extra Tidbit: | Other movies that failed at the box office, but later went on to become cult hits: Fight Club, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, Office Space, It's a Wonderful Life, Highlander, Gattaca, etc. You can fill in the rest... |
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| Source: | JoBlo.com |
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John Carter Was Awesome !!!
John Carter Was Awesome !!!
uh, i'll tell you what happened...
The Title.
JOHN CARTER RULES!
JOHN CARTER RULES!
Quite agree
Do people really need those taglines? Did Pirates of the Caribbean fail because nobody knew the director? Did Avatar tank because the directors previous movie was Titanic that men so childishly don't watch because women like it?
Do people really need those taglines? Did Pirates of the Caribbean fail because nobody knew the director? Did Avatar tank because the directors previous movie was Titanic that men so childishly don't watch because women like it?
Who gives a shit who made what before the current movie. If a movie is good, people will see it. If a movie should depend on the success of another movie it just isn't a very good movie.
Take for example M. Night Shyamalan. His first movies were good, his last movies sucked. So what is his next movie going to be? Should it automatically suck because his last movie sucked? Will it automatically be good, because he made good movies ten years ago? Or should every film be regarded as a single entity. Unbreakable isn't good because Sixth Sense was good. Last Airbender didn't suck because The Happening sucked.
Anyway, marketing isn't too blame here folks. The movie is just so mediocre. If the scenes on Earth are the best parts of a movie about Mars there is something wrong with the movie.
Just 1 week so far.
Just 1 week so far.
One Word...
I agree. It WasThe Marketing.
Marketing
Civil War ....Mars
Extra TidBit: The Thing did horrible box office as well when it came out. Now look at it......getting ripped off and re-made..lol
extra tidbit
Besides, this might be just me but.. too much CGI is just boring. I'd much better go watch a SciFi movie like MOON than something like this.
Another thing is the way the "story" was marketed, it looks way too "overdone".. new guy comes too town, he gets crap, shows his "skills" and then he is the hero.. woop de de doop..
Come on.. built some tension, show some interesting characters, not a CGI big
Besides, this might be just me but.. too much CGI is just boring. I'd much better go watch a SciFi movie like MOON than something like this.
Another thing is the way the "story" was marketed, it looks way too "overdone".. new guy comes too town, he gets crap, shows his "skills" and then he is the hero.. woop de de doop..
Come on.. built some tension, show some interesting characters, not a CGI big doogy...
How come we are so interested in PROMETHEUS.. yet we know nothing about it?! We have come to a point were we have trailers.. for trailers! This is how you do it.
PLUS.. casting was terrible! Taylor Kitsch just sucks, sorry but he has 0 charisma. He killed Gambit!
-It stars the guy who botched the Gambit Character.
-I have seen the marketing and still have no idea what it is about Is there a villain? why is he on mars? why does he have super jumping abilities?
-It looked Boring
-Mars is Boring
-CGI looks bad and uninteresting.
-It stars the guy who botched the Gambit Character.
-I have seen the marketing and still have no idea what it is about Is there a villain? why is he on mars? why does he have super jumping abilities?
-It looked Boring
-Mars is Boring
-CGI looks bad and uninteresting.
It's no good
DISNEY
*THE* reason: Written in *1911*
Perhaps
Awesome Post
HMMMM
I am glad to some extent The Rock and Vin Diesel are trying to start up action careers again while we were left with Statham and Stallone to give out full body action flicks.
I like both of them but honestly Statham can be given better vehicles.
BTW don't with all the hate for Transformers but at least we get photo realistic sfx and robot action scenes which is what we want to see rather than complicated character driven moody film(cowboys and aliens).
List of reasons why
why is he on Mars? Is he trying to leave? is he Stuck there? Why is there a war? why is he leading it?
- don't tell me thats good marketing by leaving all these questions unanswered, it's Junk you should create a desire by giving information but
why is he on Mars? Is he trying to leave? is he Stuck there? Why is there a war? why is he leading it?
- don't tell me thats good marketing by leaving all these questions unanswered, it's Junk you should create a desire by giving information but not too much.
Similarities: Looks like disney said.. listen Avatar did great lets combine that, with our Prince of Persia, throw some Star Wars feeling in there, and a dash of Planet of the Apes. At least thats what i get from the trailers.
Release Date: The release date has nothing to do with their failure, their only competition was The Lorax which did a great job of marketing, i knew what his journey was about, and the purpose behind it. Which is why i went and saw the Lorax this weekend which was great.
Well...
I'm sure it will make back the money just fine between theatre tickets and DVD/Blu-Ray sales but Disney made many mistakes and better learn from them.
I'm sure it will make back the money just fine between theatre tickets and DVD/Blu-Ray sales but Disney made many mistakes and better learn from them.