Three months does seem to be the minimum time between movies' theatrical release and DVD release. I knoe Serenity was released in theatres at the end of September 2005 and was on DVD just before Chirstmas 2005.
And they did absolutely nothing to stem the tide. They did shit for promoting this film and what little they did was shit. The film itself does not deserve the rep it's getting. It was poorly handled in so many ways.
I hope the stink of failure doesn't keep Andrew Stanton from making more movies. I want to see him direct more films, either animated or live action.
I was dumping on it before it was trendy... I guess I'll have to go find something less trendy to dump on.
He never quit his job at Pixar. I'm sure they'll gladly let him make more animated films there. He might have a harder time getting another expensive live-action film made, though.
I still haven't seen it (rental for me). Regardless of the quality of the movie, it's a fascinating example of extreme corporate incompetence and mismarketing. (See my link for more gory details.) It's gratifying to see that, for once, they're not just blaming the lower echelons for this catastrophe. After seeing people fired over it right up the chain of command, the very name "John Carter" will strike fear into corporate suites. But the foreign BO might salvage it some. 74% of the BO is from overseas - way higher than average. Although that might not put the movie in the black, it does indicate that there's an audience for a more reasonably-budgeted sequel. And this time, call it Warlord of Mars, you dolts!
I still think it's a shame the movie bombed as badly as it did. I loved it, and most of the reaction I've seen from people who saw was at least fairly positive. So was the guy actually fired because of JC?
But then Disney did pass on a sequel to Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian which also made a lot more money overseas than domestic (and in general made much more money than John Carter). Of course, we don't know how it will do on BluRay/DVD.
Is the Chronicles of Narnia franchise dead too? I must admit I found the second movie rather tedious.
A third (The Voyage of The Dawn Treader) was made, I don't believe it bombed, but, not sure if it did well (I enjoyed it, and I believe most thought it was better than Prince Caspian). I believe I've read, that only 1 more movie (The Silver Chair?) would be practical for the Movie Series as far as Characters that are already introduced or perhaps having them as kids?
Wikipedia indicates that the movie rights reverted back to the Lewis estate, and that the earliest they could be bought back was 2014. The third film grossed about $5 million less than the second, but much of that came from overseas. Domestically, it only grossed $105 million, far from the break even point of the film's $155 million budget. With foreign grosses, television sales, and home video, it has certainly turned a tidy profit.
The last news I saw, about 6-8months ago, was that Fox was in negotiations with Walden Media about how to proceed with Narnia. For awhile it was about which movie to do, Silver Chair or A Boy and His Horse.
I thought they were considering doing The Magician's Nephew next. If it were up to me (which, obviously, it isn't), I'd do The Silver Chair and finish up the Caspian trilogy, then do The Magician's Nephew as a prequel to the series. I wouldn't touch either The Horse and His Boy or The Last Battle.
Why not change the name of this one? Throughout Hollywood history, movies have been distributed under multiple names. If the movie does well overseas and on DVD, a better-marketed sequel would also likely draw more attention to the first and make it even more profitable-- that's one of the strengths of a franchise.
Movies have been distributed in various territories under various names, sure, but it's almost unheard of for a film to have its name changed for its release on home video (or even theatrical re-release). I mean, outside of Star Wars (which became, of course, Star Wars: Episode IV -- A New Hope, I can't think of another example. Am I just forgetting a bunch of films?