At The Movies! - “What Happened?” Disney’s John Carter

The Uwe Boll Podcast Network

12 years ago, the property that inspired ‘Star Wars’ and ‘Avatar’ bombed — and now both those franchises are in the Disney family.

It was released in the United States by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures on March 9, 2012, marking the centennial of the titular character's first appearance. It was presented in Disney Digital 3D, RealD 3D and IMAX 3D formats. It received mixed reviews, with praise for its visuals, Giacchino's score, and the action sequences, but criticism of the characterization and plot. It failed at the North American box office, but set an opening-day record in Russia. It grossed $284 million at the worldwide box office, resulting in a $200 million writedown for Disney, becoming one of the biggest box office bombs in history and also becoming the film with the largest estimated box-office loss adjusted for inflation ever, losing $149–265 million. With a total cost of $350 million, including an estimated production budget of $263 million, it is one of the most expensive films ever made. Due to its box office performance, Disney cancelled plans for Gods of Mars and Warlord of Mars, the rest of the trilogy Stanton had planned. Much of the film's failure has been attributed to its promotion, which has been called "one of the worst marketing campaigns in movie history".

John Carter

When Civil War veteran John Carter (Taylor Kitsch) mysteriously awakes on the surface of Mars -- also called Barsoom -- he little expects the adventure that awaits him. Carter reluctantly becomes embroiled in an epic conflict among the red planet's inhabitants, including Tars Tarkas (Willem Dafoe) and Princess Dejah Thoris (Lynn Collins). As Barsoom is poised on the brink of collapse, war-weary Carter rediscovers his humanity when he realizes that everyone's fate is in his hands.