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JOHN CARTER movie rights lost by Disney, reverts back to Burroughs

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Disney waited too long to start on a John Carter (of Mars) sequel and have now lost the rights. I think the brand has become toxic to Hollywood, and I wouldn't expect another attempt for the next 20 years.

Also apparently John Carter cost more to make than what was originally reported.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/csylt/2014/10/22/revealed-the-307-million-cost-of-disneys-john-carter/

Revealed: The $307 Million Cost of Disney's John Carter

John Carter, the 2012 science fiction movie which bombed at the box office, cost the Walt Disney Company $306.6 million to make according to recently-released documents.

They also reveal that Britain’s tax authority paid Disney $42.9 million towards the cost of making the movie which became one of its biggest flops. According to a report on Tuesday, Disney’s rights to make more John Carter movies have lapsed and reverted back to the company founded by Tarzan author Edgar Rice Burroughs who wrote the series of books which the film was based on.

The movie had all the hallmarks of being a blockbuster. It chronicles the interplanetary adventures of Civil War captain John Carter, played by Taylor Kitsch, and also starred Spiderman actor Willem Dafoe. John Carter was directed by Andrew Stanton, who won Oscars for Pixar pictures Finding Nemo and WALL-E, but its lukewarm reception at the box office triggered a profits warning from Disney. Since then its budget has been the subject of great speculation.
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Sorry, I know the movie has it's fans, but it's definitely a stretch to say it had "all the hallmarks of being a blockbuster." Most people could tell from the trailers that the movie was going to be a dud. Regardless of it's pedigree, it looked like just another generic scifi action movie, with a bunch of generic CG aliens, and a generic hunky actor in the lead.
 
The first John Carter story was published in 1917, and is in the public domain. One can't really blame the Burroughs estate for retaining their copyrights on stories published later, but it's time to let the tradmark as it applies to works now in the public domain go.
 
Disney has lost a lot ever since that Weaboo Lasseter took charge. Iger is the glue holding the company together, especially with Pixar heading into trouble for the wage-fixing scandal.
 
I'm still in the minority of those who greatly enjoyed the movie. Flaws or whatnots.
 
I didn't care about any of the characters or situations; the story definitely needed a lot more work.

Marketing had nothing to do with it.
 
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Doctorwhovian said:
Disney has lost a lot ever since that Weaboo Lasseter took charge. Iger is the glue holding the company together, especially with Pixar heading into trouble for the wage-fixing scandal.
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Disney had very little other than a big pile of money when it did the Pixar deal. If Pixar had gone their own way when their original agreement lapsed, Disney would have been up the creek without a paddle. What was the last good Disney movie ?

With Pixar, Marvel and Star Wars under their banner now, they're in pretty great shape.
 
Gaith said:
The first John Carter story was published in 1917, and is in the public domain. One can't really blame the Burroughs estate for retaining their copyrights on stories published later, but it's time to let the tradmark as it applies to works now in the public domain go.
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actually the first story was published in 1912 in the pulps. the Burroughs estate fiercely protects it properties. like the recent dispute with Dynamite comics (which has since been resolved).
 
Roshi's bone said:
I'm still in the minority of those who greatly enjoyed the movie. Flaws or whatnots.
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Joel_Kirk said:
I didn't care about any of the characters or situations; the story definitely needed a lot more work.

Marketing had nothing to do with it.
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Marketing had a lot to do with it, and I say this as a fan of the movie. They should have called it The John Carter Chronicles: A Princess of Mars (hell, it worked for Narnia and Lord of The Rings, why not this time?)
 
I seriously doubt a different or more faithful title would have made much of a difference to people.

In fact to someone who didn't know better, your title might have made it sound like John Carter was the Princess of Mars. :p
 
Maybe John Carter and the Princess of Mars or John Carter and the Martian Princess would have worked a little better. Those kinds of titles didn't hurt Indiana Jones and Harry Potter any.
 
From the Forbes article

It makes John Carter the third most expensive Disney movie filmed in the UK with the clear leader being Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. As Forbes has revealed the fourth installment in the Pirates of the Caribbean series was the most costly production in history with a total budget of $410.6 million.
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OH MY GOD! Disney just loves to throw away money while making movies don't they?! :eek:
 
BillJ said:
Roshi's bone said:
I'm still in the minority of those who greatly enjoyed the movie. Flaws or whatnots.
Click to expand...

I liked it when I saw it in the theater but never had/have any desire to see it again.
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I wanted to like it and convinced myself it was OK but I feel that way too. I have a sneaking suspicion that Guardians of the Galaxy might not hold up so well to repeat viewing either.

With John Carter there doesn't seem to be a lot of layers. Again, I'd have to watch it again to give full judgment but it seemed like it was all laid out on the table without a lot of juicy bits to sink into later.
 
I really enjoyed the movie. It will be interesting to see what becomes of the property. I think it would be kind of funny if a new version came out and was a huge hit.
 
I love the movie and have seen several times on DVD, but I do hope this might mean we'd get more John Carter movies.
 
Big fan of Burroughs and the Martian series. Didn't care much for this film. Hopefully the next licensee will do better. "John Carter" was a poor choice for a title. I would have gone with "John Carter of Mars" or maybe called it "Barsoom" and then subtitled any sequels.
 
They should have just called it A Princess of Mars. Or defaulted to Warlord of Mars, like the comics usually do. It would have helped some. But the fact is that they took one of the most iconic adventure series in modern history and made it bland and dull. From the uninspired casting to the washed-out color palette, the movie just in no way did justice to the source material.
 
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