WTF Happened to Disney's JOHN CARTER?

WTF Happened To This Movie? - The JoBlo series that looks at troubled movie productions, box-office failures, and bizarre and surprising creative decisions!
It took a century for Edgar Rice Burroughs’ classic pulp hero JOHN CARTER (played by Taylor Kitsch) to finally reach the red planet on the big screen. But Disney’s 2012 feature -- the live-action directing debut of Pixar’s Andrew Stanton (FINDING NEMO, WALL-E) -- was exorbitantly expensive, mishandled its marketing, and ultimately proved to be one of history’s biggest box office failures posting an over $200 million loss. Yet the movie itself is - dare I say - pretty damn good! Get yer ass to Mars and find out “WTF Happened to JOHN CARTER!”
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#JohnCarter #WTFHappenedToThisMovie #TaylorKitsch

[@emacsterm2949]

This was an incredibly well made movie. It’s a shame we won’t ever get to see the sequels.

[@drdarkeny]

It needs the beginning and end severely trimmed, but otherwise absolutely.

[@206beastman]

I'm still waiting for district 9 sequel and golden compass

[@jykox]

@@206beastman golden compass ? XD wtf ? watch tv series His dark materials

[@johnburke6332]

We may yet, Mr Froddo. We may yet.

[@drdarkeny]

@@Crinjal_2611 - Fighting, helping Deejah maintain her kingdom, becoming the Jeddak of Jeddaks, dying, coming back to life, dying again, living again....

[@FrankValchiria]

John Carter is a greatly misunderstood fairy-tale that deserves more recognition .

[@ReligionOfSacrifice]

The writer Edgar Rice Burroughs influenced much with "A Princess of Mars." I have this weird feeling that "Dune 2" will break into the top 100 movies on my favorites list. I love "Star Wars" since a child. I hated "Dune" in 1984 with Sting. I love Sting as an musician. "Dune" in 2021 is good and I really liked it, but somehow the Anti-Christ (Mahdi) making it to Jerusalem is unlikely to surpass "Star Wars." It might be interesting in a SCI-FI film to see Islam's vision of peace, and so I am glad that "Dune" will have a part two, but I'm not holding my breath that it will make the top 100 favorite movies. As a child when I read the book I felt it pulled from Lawrence of Arabia and Islamic culture of the Caucasus or Bedouin tribes of Arabia, but I never got the idea of Atreides being America with capitalism waning. The movie in 2021 helped me see that connection. The Fremen call Paul the Mahdi is a dead give away that this whole thing is an Islamic end times vision. Hence the dead bodies that Paul sees piling up as he fulfills his place in history, by leaving America and being a Muslim as that is how the movie ends. Here is where these three related series have fallen so far and any you don't see aren't loved enough to mention. 20) Star Wars: the Empire Strikes Back (1980) 21) Star Wars: a New Hope (1977) 112) John Carter (2012) 148) Star Wars: Return of the Jedi (1983) 269) Dune (2021) To quote the author "I am showing you the superhero syndrome and your own participation in it." - Frank Herbert, speaking about "Dune." "A Princess of Mars," from 1912, inspired things like: Star Wars, Avatar, Indiana Jones, Superman, and Dune. "A Princess of Mars" even inspired Ray Douglas Bradbury. If you want to see a movie of it, see "John Carter" from 2012. But the main reason for me to watch Dune 2 is to see whether Zendaya Coleman surpasses female actresses I loved in the past. Another in the top 100 and she will surpass all female actresses at least for having three movies in the top 100. The most have six movies on the list and two doing better than her top two. 10) Spiderman: No Way Home (2021) 96) The Greatest Showman (2017) 190) Spiderman: Far from Home (2019) 197) Spiderman: Homecoming (2017) 269) Dune (2021)

[@cyrusmorris9599]

This movie is extremely underrated, this is a great movie.

[@WillyDIreland]

I 💯% agree

[@n.v.624]

Mmm, underrated? Somewhat. A great movie? Not really there. Not hating. I did like the movie.

[@brianbak6405]

Yes.! Its really good. I love it 😻

[@MrSpictastic7208xD]

Yes i saw it without knowing any of the back story and I thought it was wonderful

[@JLE8811]

This one fell to poor marketing.

[@TheMugrad2002]

This is honestly one of my faves. No idea how it flopped so hard.

[@michaelstroup7361]

Because it was terribly written

[@jiduto]

The video explained why it flopped so hard lol.. I read a lot of the books and enjoyed them and was sad to see that the movie flopped and we would not get the sequels. But I'm hoping that someday a film studio will execute it much better and we can get a full trilogy of movies.

[@Geronimo_Jehoshaphat]

Well, I saw it 6 times in the theater, so I did my part. Love the movie. Obviously.

[@driver8sk]

A lead who, while handome, was aggresively bland and more earthtones than a 70's living room. It was a good movie, but it just needed something extra for the advertising to hook into and get the masses interested.

[@Geronimo_Jehoshaphat]

@@driver8sk Taylor Kitsch was very good as John Carter, and he has been very effective and downright roguishly charming in roles before and since. As Tim Riggins in Friday Night Lights and David Koresh in Wacko are performances which certainly stand out. That said, in retrospect I might have rather cast Anson Mount. But I'm really basing that on Hell On Wheels - which didn't even premeier until a year after John Carter was already released. If I had to pull the trigger on casting the lead back in 2010, Kitsch would definitely be a shortlist contender, but I might have tried to skew older and court Jim Caviezel for the job. Because in my mind I see John Carter as a taller and darker than Kitsch. At the time of casting, Kitsch was a solid choice with a lot of stardom potential and he performed the role whlle additionally bringing an appropriate athletic physique. In the years since that big push to make him a marquee name, he's more or less become a quality character actor. Problem is there's been so few truly robust, masculine and charismatic young male lead actors. The few who somewhat qualify are all swallowed up in comic book franchise identities. Even now I'm hard pressed to think of a suitable alternative lead for a new reboot. I'd be happy to continue with Kitsch. Ideally, a young Tom Selleck plays John Carter.

[@barbiquearea]

I think this movie and Lone Ranger were the reason Disney started to inject more cash into their Marvel and Star Wars properties while also doing live action remakes of their classical films to bank on nostalgia rather than putting more money down on untested IPs.

[@JoBloOriginals]

Lone Ranger was also fairly decent.

[@ThomasK96]

Disney also tried to do a film series of the Oz Saga of books around the same time as John Carter and the Lone Ranger.

[@barbiquearea]

@@ThomasK96 Oz the Great and Powerful made money but was generally panned by critics and audiences. John Carter was better received by critics but was commercially unsuccessful.

[@ThomasK96]

@@barbiquearea well I think it actually underperformed a little and of course John Carter and Lone Ranger are better films. But the point i was making is that in the early 2010s Disney try to find new film series before just giving all the money to Star Wars Marvel live-action remakes.

[@zillauniverse7208]

And also the reason why we haven’t gotten a new tron movie yet

[@jonathanmartin8113]

John Carter is highly underrated. I watch it regularly and I'm never disappointed.

[@chrono2959]

Same here me and my old lady both watch it at least once a year sometimes twice

[@lazydaze3134]

I loved this movie. Always wondered why there was never a sequel, had no idea it flopped. I even read the novels because of this movie.

[@Mortom83]

Same story with me. Is it shame there was not be any sequels.

[@marcussmith4913]

same... got the novel for christmas the ENTIRE novel its huge. never finished reading all of it but what I did read it was entrtaining.

[@TheSocratesofAthens]

Same here.

[@RyanLBrown9396]

I’ll go to my grave saying this movie is underrated

[@vinipcplayer]

yes...speed racer too

[@anthonymartensen3164]

@@vinipcplayer both with scores by Michael Giacchino

[@donovanmartin7946]

Same i loved it

[@Cunoslav]

The biggest flaw of this movie is that Bryan Cranston is in it for only like 34 seconds...

[@semperperatus11]

This movie and tronlegacy are Disney’s most underrated films

[@_FoxHoleCharlie_]

I remember hearing about how this was a bomb and associated that with a bad movie, then I watched it and fell in love. There's another Earth out there somewhere where John Carter 6 is being released in the summer

[@alswann2702]

And another Mars where John Carter of Virginia is STILL the best swordsman on two worlds!!

[@-algerino-1205]

"John Carter of Mars" and "Master and commander" are the most underrated movies in cinema history

[@djutmose]

I think the vision of Barsoom that a lot of older fans have in their heads is from the books but supplemented by the art of Frazetta and the comics: lots of violence, blood, and nearly naked red maidens (actually in the books they usually were naked save some jewelry). That's what made it seem edgy and badass to us as teen boys. And Disney was NEVER going to make that movie.

[@matthewdaley746]

They must have forgotten about Touchstone Pictures, they had that wing at their disposal until 2018.

[@matthewdaley746]

Disney made a gross error, there's no question about it.

[@scratchos9816]

i think the books would make a good show on netflix or HBO

[@matthewdaley746]

@@scratchos9816 Yeah, a film, was, far too short to tell this story well.

[@thatonkgau5221]

This movie is an underrated gem that deserves another chance. John Carter is such an interesting underrated character that deserves more recognition. Hopefully it gets rebooted into a live action Disney plus series

[@FidelAmos]

Unpopular Opinion: I really enjoyed this flick. I know, I know, it might've failed all across the board, but something about it stuck with me. Made me feel like a kid again, watching someone interact in a world that I had only imagined in my childhood dreams.

[@comicbookninja5268]

I think many people feel the same as you with this movie.

[@jamesbednar8625]

I also think that this is a really good movie. Every time I watch it, I am hooked.

[@gardener68]

Not as unpopular an opinion as you might think.

[@dvt1393]

I'm pretty sure that this isn't the unpopular opinion anymore. In fact, I'd say that John Carter has undergone a huge critical re-evaluation. Even at the time it received decent reviews and was generally well liked by those that actually saw it. But, it just wasn't seen by enough people. Since then, it's definitely grown in reputation and is pretty much unanimously seen as criminally underrated.

[@FidelAmos]

I can agree with that@@dvt1393, for me anyway. I always enjoy it when it's on. 💪🏽

[@michaelhorning6014]

My brother and I knew John Carter from the Marvel comic. We used to crack ourselves up referring to Noah Wyle's character on ER Dr. John Carter as "John Carter Warlord of Mars."

[@rhyanmoralde3047]

B.e.S.T f'u"l'l D.a.T.i.n.G -L-o-V-e-S-e-X-----۞------------ livegirls19. com 》》 𝙊𝙣𝙡𝙮 𝘼𝙙𝙪𝙡𝙩 《《 !❤️ 在整個人類歷史上，強者，富人和具有狡猾特質的人捕食部落，氏族，城鎮，城市和鄉村中的弱者，無`'守和貧窮成員。然而，人類的生存意願迫使那些被拒絕，被剝奪或摧毀的基本需求的人們找到了一種生活方式，並繼續將其DNA融入不斷發展的人類社會。 說到食物，不要以為那些被拒絕的人只吃垃圾。相反，他們學會了在被忽視的肉類和蔬菜中尋找營養。他們學會了清潔，切塊，調味和慢燉慢燉的野菜和肉類，在食品市場上被忽略的部分家用蔬菜和肉類，並且學會了使用芳香的木煙（如山核桃，山核桃和豆科灌木 來調味食物煮的時候 1618741554

[@artpena72]

This movie was great, i love rewatching it, too bad we're not getting more.

[@alwintom6478]

This is one of the movies that never gets tired of watching

[@joannetiu471]

Had no idea this movie existed when I watched it by chance years ago in the quiet of my laptop. Without any preconceived notions, I was amazed this movie wasn't being talked about. It was such a fun ride. Such a shame it wasn't appreciated.

[@tysonas1]

The Director’s original cut was well over 3 hours but the studio execs kept making him trim to 2 hrs, which is why there’s pacing and development problems; remember the Kingdom of Heaven fiasco. The problem with execs is they think short = more showings = more $$$, but when you look at the list of top B.O. films you see a slew of movies near or over three hours as quality, character development and cohesion mean as much as length but too many modern studio execs don’t realize this, their more bean counters than film entrepreneurs.

[@matthewdaley746]

Kingdom of Heaven was the last truly great Ridley Scott film, I'm hoping that The Last Duel is really great, but, I'm not holding my breath.

[@lutherheggs451]

Its not the "studio execs" its people who don't grasp how movies get sequels and that maybe, just maybe the property they "love" far too much is nowhere near as popular as they think. Then when that thing flops they cry that it surely must be studio interference and "execs" that ruined it, when the reality is the majority of people just did not care.

[@nivekian]

I think Endgame stapled those nuts to the floor.

[@tysonas1]

@@lutherheggs451 The marketing campaign was notoriously atrocious for the film; even I thought to myself what the f when I watched the trailers, I said to myself their ruining the movie and taking away the mystery and giving away major spoilers. If I wasn’t a fan of the books I’d say blah cgifest. Furthermore that lame opening ruined the surprise and mystery of Burroughs Mars for the moviegoers, they should have discovered Mars as Carter was discovering it; that was a terrible decision.

[@DigitalDuelist]

They made their money back on the home video and streaming markets. Besides that its their own fault it initially lost money due to them not promoting or backing it in any way. This movie deserves a sequel and it'll be another in a long list of failed opportunities if it doesn't get one. Hopefully if not another studio will purchase the rights.

[@JamesASharp]

It amazes me that Disney, a company that is good at making money, shoots themselves in their own feet with some of their properties over and over again. Maybe they don't need our money after all. 🤷🏿‍♂️

[@sneakyskunk1]

I have always hoped this film would eventually find an audience. I enjoyed every minute. We could have gotten a real dog of a movie, but what we got instead was a great film from a film maker who clearly understood and respected the original stories.

[@nakulpatel8441]

➡️ livegirls19. com ⤵️ B.e.S.T f'u"l'l D.a.T.i.n.G h.o.T G.i.r.L's -L-o-V-e-S-e-X---❤️😘 ..👍 !💖🖤❤️今後は気をライブ配信の再編ありがとうです！この日のライブ配信は、かならりやばかったですね！１万人を超える人が見ていたもん（笑）やっぱり人参最高！まさかのカメラ切り忘れでやら1かしたのもドキドキでした,. 💖🖤在整個人類歷史上，強者，富人和具有狡猾特質的人捕食部落，氏族，城鎮，城市和鄉村中的弱者，無`'守和貧窮成員。然而，人類的生存意願迫使那些被拒絕，被剝奪或摧毀的基本需求的人們找到了一種生活方式，並繼續將其DNA融入不斷發展的人類社會。. 說到食物，不要以為那些被拒絕的人只吃垃圾。相反，他們學會了在被忽視的肉類和蔬菜中尋找營養。他們學會了清潔，切塊，調味和慢燉慢燉的野菜和肉類，在食品市場上被忽略的部分家用蔬菜和肉類，並且學會了使用芳香的木煙（如山核桃，山核桃和豆科灌木 來調味g食物煮的時候 1618757312

[@jeffd9193]

I had no idea the movie took place on Mars until now. Hence the bad marketing.

[@chickenlegsTV]

I love this movie and it's really sad what Disney did to it.

[@coreymckee4844]

And Tron..😔

[@marcuswalters8093]

I really liked John Carter. I think the ideas and characters really worked and it was full of great imagination and visuals.

[@keithdoherty7245]

RECOMENDATION: Can you do a WTF of Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow?

[@marSLaZZ66]

Sky Captain is one of my favorite movies ! I'd love to see Kerry Conran's version of John Carter, even if i really like the Stanton's film.

[@drdarkeny]

Me three on this one!

[@erikskole7669]

Yeah that was a cool movie. It looked good as well.

[@DutchPlanDerLinde]

yEAH

[@bagoftrix]

One prime example of mainly critics having no clue certain things were intentional, like the line delivery, I remember everybody saying it had horrible acting, but it’s clearly on purpose. Same goes for speed racer.

[@charlespuruncajas9663]

John Carter is a failure of: - Marketing (seriously? Releasing the movie just weeks before The Hunger Games, Wrath of Titans and Project X? Who would think that would success?) - Casting (no A List actors besides Willem Dafoe or Mark Strong, plus the main actor was in Origins Wolverine) - Budget (a Pixar movies filmmaker doing his first live action movie with an abysmal budget that surpassed the initial one) - Disney themselves for not using a proper title rather than generic “John Carter”

[@matthewdaley746]

Marketing: Agree, although, to be fair to Project X, a $12 Million dollar film is almost assured to break even. Casting: Agree, like he's as talented as Ryan Reynolds, but, he's a headliner, he's not, like Simon West, and, Michael Bay, have equal skill, but, one's a headliner, and, one got exiled to China. Budget: Agree, although, Brad Brad's first live-action film, MI:GP, was a success, and, his next film, Tomorrowland, was a disaster. Disney: Agree, this is just plain old stupidity, assuming anyone would know, or, care, what this film is about with that title, was moronic.

[@rolandoalvarado2979]

I was so upset that there was no sequel. When I finished watching the movie I actually went to ready the novel/comic.

[@coolslc]

This movie was really cool actually, underrated for sure 👍🏽

[@alexandervelez2774]

I think they should add one more part of this story, its done phenomenal on Netflix and Disney +. It found its audience, just a little too late.

[@TheRustyGuitarist]

As someone who's read the original books growing up and loved them, I really enjoy this film! It has it's flaws of course and isn't completely faithful to the source martial, but what Hollywood adaptation is? Overall a very underrated film.

[@mikavirtanen7029]

My biggest gripe with this movie is Taylor Kitsch and how they instilled that brooding that started with Nolan-Batman to the character that is nothing like Batsy. I have nothing against changing some things when it comes to the different medium, but lead characters should not be touched however "cool or current" it may seem to film makers.

[@technicalminds6714]

i was watching this movie yesterday again ..amazing movie everytime i watch it .. sequels should be made..netflix or disney must make another sequel

[@7ktTube]

I loved this movie when it were released. I still watch it from time to time. weird how a such good movie could flop..

[@paddyola1]

it was one of my fave movies. plus lynn collins was just wow

[@MrZattack101]

I was 13 when this movie came out and it was one of my favorites at the time. I've watched it multiple times since then and replay value never drops. Although I haven't seen it in a while I remember it capturing my imagination and I loved the ending.

[@kamdan2011]

This movie made Mars look as common as Utah.

[@JeffreyDeCristofaro]

My mom and I both had a blast with this film when it was released!!! This is WHY you SHOULDN'T work for Disney - whatever great things they CAN make get sabotaged by inane marketing decisions, and followed by a vast majority of mediocre mainstream product!! This was a lavish, faithful, imaginative and highly entertaining adaptation of a classic work, and after all the concerted effort invested in it by both cast and crew, corporate Disney had to just shit on something that deserved WAY better than what it got upon its initial release!!

[@DoomguyIsGrinningAtYou.]

This film needs more attention.

[@alexhale2696]

Love this movie. I have it in 3D; one of many I can't watch without 3D. PS, Lynn Collins as DT is stunning. 💘

[@jc.1191]

She was pretty cute

[@gawaniwhitecrow2731]

Still not seen this, I may do so now.

[@nivekian]

It's worth it.

[@joshhuffine4522]

This movie NEEDS the sequels to put more eyes on the 1st . I think it's a Great movie.

[@Thor-Orion]

Funny, this film was better than the entire Disney Star Wars Trilogy.

[@thelastmotel]

I think it's nuts that this movie was, in one way or another, in continuous development from 1936 onwards. Changed studios, cast, director, writers, scripts, crew... everything!... so many times over the decades.

[@tammienaughton261]

I have watched this movie so many times. I loved it.

[@tenchifan72]

I truly love this film and everyone I know that has seen it says its a blast. I think it was a flop due to poor marketing and lack of understanding. I still remember seeing the poster for the first time and thinking, "Did they misspell John Connor?" I thought it was another terminator sequel. I'd never even heard of the books before, so I'm not surprised it didn't have the fan base that they hoped for. The film, however, is a fun adventure film that has some great characters and storytelling to it. A great throwback style with a blockbuster budget to pull its insane premise off

[@nwseaman6945]

Hell I recall seeing this movie and truly enjoyed it.

[@GallantSector]

I liked the movie, but I read the book (A Princess Of Mars) afterwards and I just blown away about how good the novels are. It’s my favorite series of books. The marketing was really bad, I remember seeing the trailer in theaters and having the thought “What is this, why am I suppose to think this John Carter is so cool? All I know is his name” Since the trailer left nothing but mystery I looked up the synopsis on Wikipedia, and found out the film was going to be based on a book series by Edgar Rice Burroughs, about a man who goes to Mars and has a crazy adventure and how it was the inspiration for Superman, and other characters and stories all throughout the 1900’s.... NOW I WAS INTRIGUED I breezed through the first 3 books. After the first I instantly felt sad at the fact that the film flopped because now I have a new appreciation for the characters and story. Although I feel the movie pales in comparison to the book, I was still sad. My only hope now is for a reboot. Which I would love to see, maybe a tv/streaming series will give the story more time to be told more accurate to the books. I just miss Barsoom. Will start Thuvia, Maid of Mars soon and continue my journey.

[@wolflike24124]

I went to my first drive in theater and this movie was showing that time. I must say I did have my money's worth and made me cherish great memories there. I would definitely watch it again!

[@TheShadowCamo]

This was a great movie, so underrated. I dug it out and watched it about a month ago.

[@Dohsoda]

I'm glad the director found work in live action television.

[@spinningbacksidekick]

Great sci-fi movie. Was hard for me to get others to watch it. Unless your movie has "Marvel" or "Star Wars" in the title or "directed by James Cameron," it's probably a good idea to NOT have a no-name actor as the main star. Marketing failures aside, not having a box office draw as the main character is a huge risk.

[@chrono2959]

This is in my top 10 favorite movies of all time this movie is freaking awesome

[@nancycatalan8353]

This is one of those movies that will teach you not to listen to what others say.

[@jc.1191]

They named it and marketed it terribly. This has been happening way too frequently.

[@jonathanscott476]

I really enjoyed this film and even bought Sellers' book on its failure a couple years after the film flopped as I just couldn't figure out why nobody saw it. I read the books growing up and loved them so I was very happy to see a reasonably faithful adaption of the series (yeah yeah things change in adaptions all the time but I felt the spirit of the books was very much there.)

[@levithomas2700]

My son and I absolutely love this movie and watch it together at least once a year

[@GenXMarks]

It was really a great movie to watch and my best was the super-fast running dog “Hound”...

[@TrvisXXIII]

Probably the most detailed breakdown on the creation of this movie, besides pointing out the obvious like most videos did

[@franklinlee4496]

Just finish watching American Assassin and Taylor Kitsch also made Battleship was in the movie. Been a long time since I watch John Carter and I love to watch it again.

[@PeanutStrawberry]

John Carter of Mars, the grandpa of modern sci fi adventures, the one who codified what modern classics like Star Wars and Dune would look like... OF COURSE THE CRITICS FOUND IT DATED, THAT'S THE PRECURSOR TO ALL SPACE FANTASIES! I fucking love this movie.

[@jacobburton2808]

This movie was amazing and big time thwarted by critics because any one I know who's seen this movie. We all love it and would watch a sequel without question... drop it!!!!

[@lagunamunta]

I really enjoy John Carter. Not exactly a faithful adaptation, but its a great watch.

[@nolantangcalagan6518]

this movie was a victim of poor marketing and advertising. I was surprised the first time I watched it. I was like "woah? how did this kind of movie slip through to my nose?"

[@Jabberstax]

Not the last franchise Disney would screw up.

[@brianknapp6215]

I would LOVE to see one of these semi-independent creators take a crack at the _Princess of Mars_ story- perhaps Corridor Digital... Much like Kerry Conran's _Sky Captain-_ we need a quality proof-of-concept before a Major Studio would take a risk on another adaptation.

[@chrono2959]

Awe man it's supposed to be a trilogy. Damn it . I would have loved to see the other two

[@____________838]

The trailer that I remember felt too much like Prince of Persia...

[@ChuckD008]

I take moviegoing pride knowing I saw this & Dredd 3D in theatres. Nearly a decade later & the CGI still holds up. It's a wild, fun, swashbuckling throwback that we just don't get anymore & more people should take the time to watch. They shoulda kept the "of Mars" in the title

[@charlesmcmanus4229]

“...talented cast and crew...” 6:43 “The leading role went to Taylor Kitch, who Hollywood seemed determined to make an A-list name.” I think you figured out one of the issues with the movie right here. While the supporting cast was great, the actors hired to play the main characters left a lot to be desired. I never felt like I was watching a Civil War veteran caught-up in the factional politics of Mars. I felt like I was watching a vapid dude-bro recite the lines he was told to say.

[@Fran0Ran0]

The ineptitude of "suits" never ceases to amaze me. 🤷🏿‍♂️

[@Chrisdrumz]

I KNOW I watched it but I have zero memory of it.

[@azzurrin889]

This movie is so underrated

[@MrGamer-fw4hc]

Disney fumbled this movie so badly, like, WTF were their marketing team thinking?!?

[@58O08]

Definitely feel this movie is underrated. I totally agree that a lot of the fault lies with the marketing. I remember only seeing this movie in the theater by accident/coincidence. Was very bored that one weekend and just decided to watch any film that was playing and it happen to be this one and was pleasantly surprised. honestly didn't think the biggest budget film was playing at the time lol

[@sisigpapi]

It really sucks that it bombed because I got so invested in the story right after watching it. Super great film, really just incredible

[@StreetComp]

When it comes to what movies will qualify as box office successes science fiction seems more difficult to predict - but in case of JC it’s stunning how Disney sabotaged it’s own movie. Good on that Sellers guy for trying to help

[@StreetComp]

Forgot to mention that I can’t believe that was Det. McNulty playing the bad guy! Has he been making movies since The Wire ended and I just haven’t noticed lol

[@LordSeth-hf8ew]

i highly dislike studios ruining projects, much more than the creatives

[@WiseUp89]

Disney spent a lot more advertising for avengers (2012) than JCM

[@garrick3727]

As others have said, this was a great movie. I had never even heard of John Carter, the books. I saw this film on tv and I liked it. I don't think it would ever break any box office or critical records, but it could easily have made enough money to be profitable. Surely the way to market a film has been worked out by now, particularly by Disney. That implies that the people making the ads couldn't discern what the movie was about. They knew so little about science fiction that they did not know what would appeal to fans or a wider audience. And you have a Superbowl ad for a film featuring epic land battles where two sides charge into each other. Jeez, what should I show in my Superbowl ad.

[@feeblemind]

to be fair i watched the movie and still didn't realize it was taking place on mars lmfao

[@dannybailes3948]

So I just went through the comments and almost every one says it loves the movie. It’s seems pretty obvious Disney tanked it on purpose

[@alphavermen2718]

bruh i remember loving this movie when i was a kid

[@jonmckane4672]

Definitely one of my favorite movies! Critic's are wrong about it, and I don't get how this movie flopped.

[@champloo9058]

The IP has so much potential. Watched it recently and it felt different and so unique to what has been released recently

[@MichaelMaxwell747]

They made John Carter's leaping ability way too OP but other than that it was pretty good.

[@TomVCunningham]

John Carter is a great throwback straight-ahead adventure film. Uncluttered by needlessly complicated plot mechanics. It's simple. It's fun. It shouldn't have failed like it did.

[@Amrah75]

This movie deserves more love! It's a fantastic story, the source of most sci-fi and superheroes, including Superman and Star Wars. Rename it and rerelease it with better advertising! The ending always gives me a little shiver of joy. Why?

[@crimsonmask3819]

Never not annoyed at the conflation of Disney with Pixar.

[@fLaMePr0oF]

IMO one of the best ever movies to tank at the box office :'(

[@sd-wc9ep]

They should just have done an animated show/movies

[@erichtomanek4739]

BarsoomMars. (my choice) Even the name Devilish Disney chose didn't help the film.

[@aheroforhire9550]

The most underrated movie ever made.

[@tronam]

Adjusted for inflation John Carter’s production budget would be $320 million today, which is absolutely insane for an unproven IP (outside of old school sci-fi nerd circles) and with an inexperienced live action director.

[@stej43]

I just watched this movie on Disney plus. Not into these type of movies but oh my god i almost cried at the end im a full grown man lol This move was amazing. One of the best sci fi movies ive ever seen. Severely underated. Wish i could see what happened when he got back.

[@shadowwarrior7218]

7mins into this video and im blown away at the casting.. How have i not since JC yet lol

[@taylorwest6986]

I swear I saw a teaser trailer in a movie theater with the title "John Carter of Mars." When they changed it to just "John Carter" I thought, "that's stupid, the original title is intriguing, the new title is boring."

[@ericglenn9984]

In the Mad tv show, they called this movie 'Yawn Carter' yeah that sums up this movie

[@WarTheory]

The marketing and lead actor is what killed this movie ....

[@PHXDOG]

Never heard of John Carter before the movie came out. I was born in 1970 and never knew it was a book until after the movie came out.

[@alswann2702]

Wow. You just missed the tail end of the '60s-'70s sword and sorcery/sci-fi book and comics adaptations culture. By the '80s it was over. To bad you didn't have an older brother to turn you on to the good stuff.

[@PHXDOG]

@@alswann2702 To have an older brother would have been hard. My mom was 16 dad 17 when I was born. By 84 I was huge into X-Men, Punisher, Green Lantern & Wolverine.

[@bobmclennan1727]

A lot of the movie's failure is due to the avalanche of bad luck and poor planning behind the scenes, but let's not forget that the film's star was Taylor Kitsch. Despite his good looks, the man is a black hole of talent and rolled a 2 for charisma. It'd be hard for any actor to keep up with the fantastical imagery of Mars (though Lynn Collins and James Purefoy do alright,) but Kitsch barely even exists when he's on the screen alone, and in the big battle scenes, it's easy to forget he's even there. I generally enjoyed this movie, and it's definitely worth checking out if you haven't seen it. But almost literally any actor would have been an improvement as the lead.

[@AwakeAtTheWheel]

While there were campy moments, I loved this film! It’s a crying shame that it will never get the franchise it deserved.