John Carter Flop Shows Disney Too Big to Fail

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As a wise person already said... You need to quit texting during the movie And watch it. Everyone I have talked to said they loved it. It was a great movie SO watch it again and really watch it this time

Karen of ID 5:51PM April 07, 2012

I don't think you can call this movie a flop anymore. Its made back its budget in gross receipt, not counting $30 million from China and still needs to open in Japan. Also, still has DVD, TV and online access deals to make so should come out well ahead of the movie budget. Oh, and for those that want to tack on marketing cost that is BS, what other movies have to include this in the budget to determine success. Those ads are cost that would have been incurred regardless and the advertise Disney as much or more then the movie.
This movie is a success despite the critics, the industry and Disney itself.

Steve of CA 2:05PM April 04, 2012

I saw John Carter before everyone else at a premier at Walt Disney World, although the name was a turn off the movie itself is a visually spectacular science fiction masterpiece. I fault Disney for it's lack of imagination in advertising for their losses.
It could have been the Sci-Fi hit of 2012 had it been properly followed thru- Cameron would have never allowed such a modest presentation for such a grand spectacular event. I will predict John Carter will go on to become a cult classic in the future, just sad that it stands alone and quiet on it's maiden release.

frank baliga of FL 7:02PM March 30, 2012

PS I love subtitled films and go out of my way to see something interesting - even if it's in a language I don't understand. If the film is well acted and well-produced (even on a small budget), it transcends language.
I've been disappointed in American adaptations of foreign films for most of my life. Le Femme Nikita was brilliant when directed by Luc Besson but when Americanized it was unbearable. I have mixed feelings about the Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, I might have to see both.

DD of CA 12:26PM March 27, 2012

Why didn't they call it Maid of Mars? Even Edgar Rice Burroughs came up with a better title than "John Carter". Maid of Mars works. Can't imagine why with all of Disney's billions and allegedly top thinkers that they failed on this. Shame on Disney really. They do know better. The truth is they just screwed up by thinking the Disney name and some fairy dust would carry the film.
Perhaps once people catch on, it will become a cult classic.
I agree with other comments, a reprinting of the books with forwards by Lucas, Spielberg and the like would have been PERFECT.

DD of CA 12:20PM March 27, 2012

To Kahlan, in all fairness Edgar Rice Burrough's John Carter (aka Barsoom) series is very difficult to find in bookstores. I had to buy the series on line from several different sources. Hardly accessible to most of the audience. This was squarely the fault of Disney who could have re-published the series with new forwards by people like George Lucas, Steven Speilberg, James Cameron, etc...reflecting on the series influence and importance. Also, graphic novel versions would have been a natural. Also they could have celebrated various ERB milestones leading up to the movie release. Then of course there was perhaps the worst trailer ever.

Ranch of CA 6:38PM March 24, 2012

It is only American's who don't want to pay a lot of money to read subtitles. The rest of the world doesn't seem to have a problem with it. I guess one of the reasons why hollywood decided to remake so many fab films in English. To name only 4, The Girl with a Dragon Tatoo series of films by the same name and The Departed originally filmed as Infernal Affairs. Funnily the most copied films are chinese films!
John Carter failed in America due to the poor marketing. The trailer is dire, even the fan's on FB made 2 terrific trailers way superior to Disney and American's don't seem to read as much as foreigners!

Kahlan Bryant 1:47PM March 23, 2012

If Disney spent 100 million on marketing for John Carter I'd like to know where they wasted it all. John Carter was released almost by stealth, its title was bad (few people read Edgar Rice Burroughs today and most would not know to associate John Carter with a sci fi epic), and there just was not enough exposure. Further, it was released at a very bad time of year for this kind of movie. This thing was destined for a summer release, and yet they release it at the beginning of spring.
Disney lost the money they lost because they made very basic poor decisions and mistakes. That is it.

JD of TX 10:36AM March 21, 2012

Hollywood is out of touch with people anymore. We want higher quality films but this shotgun approach they have is out of date. They need to find new business models, ways to make money from smaller segments of the market. Between Hollywood and the television/cable companies you'd think it was still 1984 or something. They need to get with the times. We want HBO, Showtime, NBC, ABC ... ON Netflix. We'd all pay more for that.
We want movies that suit our tastes as consumers. As a mid 30s guy ... I watch maybe 1 film at the theater per year anymore. I have a 60 inch flatscreen at home, a great sound system and for the cost that I could take just my wife and I (forget the kids I guess) to the theater for I can take my wife out to a nice dinner somewhere and we can buy a DVD and watch it at home. No interruptions, no babies screaming, no kids texting and being rude during the show.
Hollywood needs to produce lower budget, yet high quality film. These days with digital film capability the cost of filming has gone down (not saying the overall cost of making a movie just of shooting it) relatively speaking. There is no reason we can't have more indie film and less big budget garbage like this film. Films made to draw 14 year old girls, senior citizens and do well for foreign audiences ... ALL IN THE SAME PICTURE ... are doomed because they end up stinking.

Lordofexcess of UT 6:25PM March 20, 2012

How can a movie in top 3 at box office and only out in theaters a couple weeks be a flop? Stupid attitude. And believing that John Carter should reap all its production costs in 2 weeks is unrealistic. Also movie should have been released in SUMMER! The utter blanket of negativity over something good by all is appalling. But then it is a movie with imagination and based on a great series by Edgar Rice Burroughs, one of the original science fiction writers. This is an orignal adventure series that influenced future writers and movie makers. Movie is great and deserves a chance. Most science fiction on film now is bland and lacking heart-this had heart.

Scifiwriter of WA 6:18PM March 20, 2012