Get Carter...

Get Marketing...



Along time ago in a galaxy not so far away...

Edgar Rice Burroughs wrote a great sci-fi adventure story called A Princess of Mars that would become one of the most influential science fiction fantasy stories of the 20th century inspiring George Lucas to make the epic Star Wars franchise nearly 60 years after it. It has taken a full century for Burroughs' imaginative epic fantasy to come to life on the big screen but John Carter has arrived in theaters DOA thanks to a series of costly marketing blunders by Disney of equally epic proportions.

Despite its numerous failures to attract an audience, director Andrew Stanton has delivered a first class epic fantasy film that brings the pages of Burroughs' highly imaginative world of Barsoom to life in living, breathing color with vibrant special effects and computer animation that could easily have become the Mouse's Star Wars franchise with the proper marketing muscle behind it. Unfortunately we will probably never see the further adventures of John Carter in The Gods of Mars or Warlords of Mars or any of the other chronicles in Burroughs' classic pulp series because the audience for whom the film was targeted has no idea just who John Carter is and is far more excited to see this summer's Hunger Games, also based on a popular series of teenage literary novels, than a hundred year-old character from a book they've never even heard of.

Perhaps the biggest tragedy is the over-simplified title changed by Stanton himself. Who is John Carter? Why should anyone care about him?

Well, he's Taylor Kitsch who played Gambit from X-Men Origins: Wolverine and his co-star Lynn Collins from the same film is ideally cast as the beautiful Princess Dejah Thoris of Helium. John Carter is a confederate captain from Virginia who travels to Arizona to find gold, only to find himself astrally transported to Mars after being fatally shot by Apache Indians. There are plenty of metaphors here between the natives of both worlds that evoke Dances With Wolves and Avatar as John Carter becomes the propheseid hero and savior of Barsoom which the native Tharks call their red planet. With an inspired cast of supporting actors with Willem Dafoe as the voice of Tars Tarkas, a nine foot tall, four armed green Martian, Dafoe sounds exactly as I would have always imagined the voice of Tars Tarkas to sound like and brings the character to life with his impassioned performance. Other inspired casting choices include terrific supporting performances by Ciaran Hinds and James Purefoy who are reunited again from working together in HBO's excellent series Rome and Tardos Mors and Kantos Kan respectively. Dominic West from HBO's The Wire also rounds out the inspired casting as the villanous Sab Than seeking the hand of the Princess of Helium to unite a planetary civil war and become its ruler.

John Carter is filled with action, adventure, special effects, animation, heroes, villains, monsters and a princess, it has all the fundamental ingredients of a classic Disney film and is a faithful adaptation of Burroughs' novel, and Disney and Stanton have delivered a spectacular film that has fallen flat on its face as a $250 million box office disaster that is being critically compared to 1995's sci-fi flop Waterworld. It must make over $400 million just to break even, another unrealistic expectation reminiscent of 2010's Tron Legacy by the foolish suits at Disney who clearly have no clue how to run the studio nor do they know anything about what they have on their hands or how to mass market their product and for that heads should roll and Disney's marketing department all deserve the grim fate that awaits them.

As for the fate of John Carter, who knows, but all indications so far seem to imply that we may never return to the red planet on the big screen again. Fortunately the written pages of Burroughs will last forever for those of us that still remember them...

Long live John Carter of Mars!

Lost In Marketing, Found On Blu-Ray...

The film was great, the marketing was deplorable...





Well, I've seen "John Carter (of Mars)" now...

And if there is any justice in this world, heads will roll in the Mouse's marketing department. My friends and I sat there watching the film and kept shaking our heads. With all that is in this film, they couldn't pull together a decent trailer? A decent poster? Banner? Why couldn't they have focused on the romance in the film? That might have brought in more female viewers who aren't into the action aspect. Because really, the film is a romance, or a love story that happens to have a lot of action. How about a banner showing John Carter and the Princess in a romantic embrace? How about a poster that is more like the wonderful Frank Frazetta posters. There is a scene in the film that is shown a bit in the trailers. Carter jumps right into the swarm of oncoming Tharks and does battle. How about that as a poster? There are so many obvious choices and the marketing department dropped the ball.

The likelihood that a sequel will happen is a very long shot right now, but there are bright spots. The foreign market opened almost double what it did here domestically. And with good word of mouth and hopefully, brisk sales of DVD/Blu-Rays then the Mouse might take another look at it. But the said truth is a great film was handled very badly. The audience won't get to enjoy a charmingly, old fashioned film that is a throwback to the epics we would see as a kid, or even our fathers and grandfathers would have seen. John Carter (of Mars) deserves better than it got. And the Suits in marketing had eight to nine months more to figure it out since the film was delayed from last summer.

Perhaps Andrew Stanton is feeling a bit the way Brad Bird did after the release of "The Iron Giant" right now...

Failing Forward...

Disney marketing, lost in this world, still not able to find another...








Once again, the Mouse's marketing department stumbles and trips...

If you've been following the docile and inept advertising campaign then you know what I'm talking about. The tracking for "John Carter" is surprisingly soft according to sources I know, but it shouldn't and wouldn't be if the Suits in the marketing department would have gotten their heads around this film earlier. It's not like it just popped up. They've had over two years to develop the strategy that they're now working though. Think anyone will be fired?

They deserve to be.

Take for example, the trailers that have came out. They show nothing for the most part that would interest you in the film. What they do show makes it appear to be a rip off of "Avatar" and "Star Wars," but they don't attempt to explain to the viewer that this came first. This was those and many other films inspiration. And if you want to see how the trailer should have been, then look at this trailer made by a fan. A fan. A FAN made this.

Bob Iger should fire whoever came up with this marketing misfire and hire the guy/girl that produced this trailer. It makes me far more excited to see the film, because the person that did it, "gets" it. I'm surprised that Andrew Stanton hasn't gone ballistic over what they're doing. I mean, the word from those that have seen it is very good. Stanton has made a great science fiction adventure that is faithful enough to the source material, but expands on it for modern audiences and is quite entertaining. But you wouldn't know that from the marketing campaign.

Look at the posters, stills and banners. Weak, static images that inspire nothing. Bland and uninteresting poses. Really? With all that happens in this film the best they could come up with was a shot of John Carter standing there or riding on an alien creature? He looks bored. The only hope I have for a poster is the one you see above. It's a limited edition being given out on the midnight showings to those that attend. It's by JC Richard(I believe) from Mondo and is the only poster I've seen that has captured anything remotely good about the film. Perhaps Mondo should be doing the banners and one-sheets as well?

It's very fascinating that Walt Disney Pictures would pony up 200+ million for this film and then not figure a way to sell it to the public...

First Tour Of Mars...

Walt Disney Pictures has released the teaser trailer for "John Carter" a day early...

And we have to remember that it's a teaser. It's meant to tease. And I think that it partially achieves its purpose. But it does give me hope that Andrew Stanton has gotten it right. I like various elements, but feel that the marketing campaign has got their hands full.




Like many people I've heard from, this is based on a classic that is a hundred years old (next year). But there are many things in this that are going to seem as though they are stolen from "Star Wars" or "Avatar." The opposite is true. But I think marketing are going to have to address this. From what I know, everyone associated with the screenplay viewed this as a labor of love. I'm going to cross my fingers and put my confidence in them to faithful put my and other geek/fanboy's dreams on the screen to Barsoom.



Come March, I can't wait to make the journey...

Teasing Mars...

Put Mars back in John Carter...








Walt Disney Pictures has released the first teaser poster for its spring 2012 tent pole feature...

"John Carter" (formerly "of Mars") will be Andrew Stanton's first live-action film will be out on March 9, 2012. I hope that Stanton's talent and love of the material create a modern classic, but I still hate the title change. John Carter of Mars sounds like a great, pulpy adventure. John Carter sounds like a bio-pic that George Clooney is staring in that follows a downsized, corporate suit as he learns to reconnect with the wife and child he neglected. Sigh.

Does it mean that the film is doomed? Not at all. Andrew Stanton is a very talented director that knows a lot about story. I expect all that he's learned in the Brain Trust at the Lamp to be instilled into the very fiber of this adaptation. It's just the lack of enthusiasm about selling a film that has such an uninspired title. Let's see if our fears our calmed when the teaser is released later this summer.

Time will tell...

John Carter Of Nowhere...

Where and I from again...


As much as I'm looking forward to this film, I'm not looking forward to this name change...

I'm sure you've all heard the word. Or perhaps it's the lack on a couple of words in the title that is. It seems that someone, likely in the soulless marketing department, has determined that John Carter shouldn't say he's from Mars. So instead of "John Carter of Mars" we will get "John Carter." Now this makes no sense, but if it's because some brainiac determined that "Mars Needs Moms" means that moviegoers no longer like Mars, then it's even stupider.

I hope that this changes and saner heads prevail, because this is one of my most anticipated films for 2012. I trust in Stanton as he knows the source material(and is a fan) and has a great grasp of storytelling. From what I've heard, and it's not a lot, the film sounds like it works, despite some whispers about having to do some reshoots. The biggest thing I have heard that makes me wonder is: "It plays young." Which may not be a bad thing. Pixar films play young, but they play to all sides of the audience which is what I'm going to take from that comment until I see otherwise.

But I never thought there would a need to change the "Of Mars" part of the name. It's part of the classic tale that Edgar Rice Burroughs wrote. It would be like taking "Anne of Green Gables" and calling it "Ann," or something even more asinine. I hope the loss of John Carter location doesn't mean that Walt Disney Pictures has a lack of direction in where to go with this picture. Barsoom shouldn't really be that hard to find.

And neither should Mars...

Meanwhile, Back On Mars...

Marsoon...

There hasn't been a lot of new information about Walt Disney Pictures':"John Carter of Mars" lately...

But the MTV Movie Blog has an interview with director Andrew Stanton where he sheds a little light on the process and makes you wonder when we're going to see that first teaser for the film.  My bet is sometime in the fall, close to Thanksgiving we'll get a teaser of it with some form of a trailer released near Christmas.

Barsoom is a world I've wanted to see since I was a child so I guess I can wait another year...

Designs On Mars...

What planet are we on?





That'll be ten cents, please.
If this is real, it's cool...

If it's not, then it's still cool. Swanky cool. You've ever seen Pixar's headquarters then you've noticed they have a lot of banners and posters up of whatever movie is coming out...

They tend to have artist do concept work and inspirational pieces for the projects they're working on. Andrew Stanton according to this artist has brought that plan over to "John Carter of Mars" as well.

This is a poster-type concept piece that William Erik Evans said he did for Stanton and his crew. Note that it hearkens back to the old pulp magazines that first printed these stories by Edgar Rice Burroughs. This gives me a comforting feeling that Stanton is the right person to handle the material.

That's certainly inspirational to me...

Hat Tip to Super Punch.

Martians, Many Martians...

More of the cast for Andrew Stanton's live-action debut keeps lining up...

Today the Hollywood Reporter announced that three actors have joined Disney's 2012 tent pole and franchise in waiting.

One of those actors has been previously associated with the project but was confirmed today. Thomas Haden Church, James Purefoy and Mark Strong have all joined the cast of Walt Disney Pictures “John Carter of Mars.” All three will play Martians that Civil War vet Carter encounters in his adventures on Mars. Church will portray Tal Hajus, an ambitious and viciously cruel Thark warrior who wishes to rule Mars. Purefoy will play Kantos Kan, the captain of the Xavarian, the kingdom of Helium’s grand warship. Strong will be Matai Shang, the ruler of the Thems who is worshiped almost as a god.

All of these actors join William Defoe, Lynn Collins and Taylor Kitsch, who plays the title role in this epic adaption of Edgar Rice Burroughs famous series of novels. A very strong line up of very good actors for the most part. Looking forward to hearing more about this film as the start date for the Mouse production looms ever closer. Can't wait to see some photos of the Kitsch dressed as Carter.

Prepping...

Edgar Rice Burroughs, Writer Of Earth...

Edgar Rice Burroughs, creator of Tarzan the Ape Man, John Carter, Warlord of Mars and many other memorable, classic characters was born today in Chicago, a hundred and thirty four years ago. He lived for three quarters of a century and contributed volumes to American literature about what twentieth century adventure would be perceived as...

Along with Jules Verne and H.G. Wells, Burroughs has been used by Disney in the parks and films(both past and future) enough to have carved out quite a bit of Disney history...

Happy Birthday, Mr. Burroughs.

The Lord Of the Jungle's Father Is Welcomed Into The World Today...

Edgar Rice Burroughs, creator of Tarzan the Ape Man, John Carter, Warlord of Mars and many others was born today in Chicago, a hundred and thirty three years ago. He lived for three quarters of a century and contributed volumes to American literature about what twentieth century adventure would be perceived as...

Along with Jules Verne and H.G. Wells, Burroughs has been used by Disney in the parks and films(both past and future) enough to have carved out quite a bit of Disney history...

Happy Birthday, Mr. Burroughs.

Mythic African White Ape Found In 1999...

Walt Disney Pictures 37th animated feature was released on this day in 1999. The Mouse's retelling of Edgar Rice Burrough's story of a white man raised in Africa by apes does well at the box office, but doesn't equal the earlier "Second Golden Age" films.

I've always enjoyed Disney's interpretation of Tarzan, but felt like it was incomplete. There was something missing from it's story and the film's ending felt rushed. Buy hey, that's me... it's actually one of my best friends favorite Disney films. So to each his own... lets celebrate Disney's Tarzan on its 8th aniversary.

A New Disney Princess?

Walt Disney Pictures is in final talks to acquire the rights to the eleven volume "John Carter of Mars" series and film the first installment: "A Princess Of Mars". For anyone that doesn't know anything about it I suggest finding a copy of the books and start reading.

Edgar Rice Burroughs, the creator of Tarzan wrote many stories besides the Lord of the Jungle. The "John Carter" series are his best known works after Tarzan. They are exciting and fun, filled with the kind of wonder and thrills that young males desire when they go to the movies. But there is a strong romance element that will appeal to girls.

Rumor is that Lasseter was the one who desired the rights to the books. Disney had the rights to make "Princess" back in the early 90's but nothing ever came of it. The film has been set up at Paramount till last year when they decided to let it go. Now it may be back at Disney but we don't know what form it will take.

Being as Lasseter is involved one would think it was going to be thought of as an animated film. Sources have said that Andrew Stanton(Finding Nemo) has wanted to make a live action film for a while and wants to make his live action debut with "Princess". Stanton is busy right now working on his follow up to Nemo which is up later in the decade. So if this is true we won't be seeing "Princess" until early next decade.

I personally would love to see it live action. This has the potential to be another "Lord of the Rings" if done right. Maybe Disney should call Peter Jackson now that New Line is going to screw up... errr I mean make "The Hobbit" without him. Things should become clearer as time progresses.