Disney's JOHN CARTER

Discussion in 'TV & Media' started by JimTheBuilder, Mar 10, 2012.

  1. Deckerd

    Deckerd Fleet Arse Premium Member

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    Why go to all that effort and expense and be left with a product which a substantial number of people who saw it didn't realise it wasn't on Earth?
     
  2. Gov Kodos

    Gov Kodos Admiral Admiral

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    You're gonna have to ask the director that. I wish Helium had looked more alien than steampunk, for instance.
     
  3. Deckerd

    Deckerd Fleet Arse Premium Member

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    I think marketing are more guilty here than the director. Whoever decided to remove 'of Mars' from the title probably cost Disney $100m or so.
     
  4. Mr Light

    Mr Light Admiral Admiral

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    But every Mars movie has bombed ;) "Mars Needs Moms", Disney's Mars movie last year, is one of the biggest box office bombs of all time. Ghosts of Mars... Red Planet... that other one from around 2000...
     
  5. Deckerd

    Deckerd Fleet Arse Premium Member

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    Mars Attacks?
     
  6. Mr Light

    Mr Light Admiral Admiral

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    Mars Attacks, international gross 101 million, budget 100 million, that's a flop. (I like the movie though!)

    Mars Needs Mom, int gross 39 mil, budget 150 mil.

    Ghosts of Mars, int gross 14 mil, budget 28 mil.

    Red Planet, int gross 33 mil, budget 80 mil.

    Mission to Mars, int gross 111 mil, budget 100 mil.
     
  7. Gov Kodos

    Gov Kodos Admiral Admiral

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    I'd say the blame of those films was in being bad films not the title. A different name would have smelt as bad.
     
  8. Asbo Zaprudder

    Asbo Zaprudder Admiral Admiral

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    Robinson Crusoe on Mars (1964) was a fairly decent film despite the cheesy title and cost £1.2M to make - does anyone know if it turned a profit?
     
  9. propita

    propita Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    It was being called a flop before it was even released, yet many here seem to have enjoyed it. Maybe if the film had received some studio support, it wouldn’t be such a flop.

    The politics inside a studio are self-defeating at the studio level, but I suppose they help those individuals involved.
     
  10. Bob The Skutter

    Bob The Skutter Complete Arse Cleft In Memoriam

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    That's not it at all. The trouble here is it's even a niche within a niche. Only certain Sci-Fi fans seem to be enjoying it. I don't know anyone who's seen it and enjoyed it, other than those on this board. Which is fine if it's a small budget, but £250m isn't small.
     
  11. OmahaStar

    OmahaStar Disrespectful of his betters Admiral

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    I think it's like that at most, if not all, studios. I'd point to Warner Brothers for a perfect example of that. Each department (much less each division) actively works against all other departments. The television and movie divisions are actively at war with each other, and simply don't work together ... ever.

    jmsnews.com has an archive of J. Michael Straczynski's posts over the years. Search for Warner or WB. It's fascinating.
     
  12. Galileo7

    Galileo7 Commodore Commodore

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    Agree.
     
  13. Harvey

    Harvey Admiral Admiral

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    At this point it probably has, but judging by some of the remarks on the audio commentary on the DVD/Blu-Ray, it wasn't a huge hit at the box office when it was first released. I can't find any figures online, though.
     
  14. Admiral2

    Admiral2 Admiral Admiral

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    Given the number times the name Mars was mentioned after John Carter realized where he was only an idiot would still be stuck thinking it was Earth for the rest of the movie. Come on.
     
  15. Bob The Skutter

    Bob The Skutter Complete Arse Cleft In Memoriam

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    Mars? You are on Barsoom, John Carter.
     
  16. captcalhoun

    captcalhoun Admiral Admiral

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    should've stuck with "Princess of Mars"...
     
  17. Asbo Zaprudder

    Asbo Zaprudder Admiral Admiral

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    I'm guessing it didn't make enough as there weren't any sequels. The ending makes it look as though either they ran out of money in production or they were expecting it to have a follow-up.

    Anyway, regarding John Carter, I expect Disney will break even eventually but it beats me how anyone can hope for a sequel with the budget that would be required to match the effects in the first outing.
     
  18. Harvey

    Harvey Admiral Admiral

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    Indeed, there was apparently early talk of a sequel called "Robinson Crusoe and the Invisible Galaxy," but that was scrapped after the film failed to light the box office on fire. (Just found this in a Tom Weaver interview book)
     
  19. Temis the Vorta

    Temis the Vorta Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Warlord of Mars, to avoid confusion, if JC is the main character. If they wanted to title it Princess of Mars, then Dejah should be the main character, which would be fine by me but that's not what they did.

    And let's face if, for Disney to release a movie called Princess of Mars will lead most people to assume it's an animated fairy tale. Don't make the mistake of assuming the audience knows anything about the source material, because they don't.

    Why make their jobs tougher than they need to be, by creating a misleading impression that they'll have to spend millions on countering, while at the same time spending millions more trying to sell the movie? Call it Warlord of Mars and focus on selling people the epic romantic story of a tragic Civil War veteran who gets his chance at love and redemption on an amazing alien world.

    Warlord of Mars tells you it's an action movie ("war"); about a guy fighting for power ("lord"); it's sci fi ("Mars"); and it's kind of retro ("warlord") but that can be cool. The title doesn't get "romance" or "redemption" in there, so those elements should be the focus of the marketing campaign. And there you have the whole package.
     
  20. Dream

    Dream Admiral Admiral

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    Total Recall was actually a hit when it was released. That obviously took place on Mars.

    Lots of people actually went to that movie unlike John Carter. TR was based on a much less famous story, but it actually had a popular action star in the lead role instead of a nobody.