A Film Franchise That Can Be Salvaged: John Carter
Disney has already taken a bath on John Carter, so the likelihood of a sequel is pretty much extinct at this point. John Carter was slated to be a tentpole franchise that would be relied upon to be a cash cow for the next decade or two. This was supposed to be Disney’s Harry Potter*.
John Carter is steadily exiting theaters now, making room for The Avengers and Battleship and other widespread releases in the coming weeks (Note: I wrote this a few weeks ago). Can John Carter the film franchise still be salvaged? I think so. Here are some suggestions:
1. A re-release as part of a late summer double bill. Disney sibling The Avengers is one of those rare films that warrant repeat viewings in a theater. In the box office dead zone known as August and September, a double bill pairing John Carter with Avengers would bring more exposure to the overlooked Carter. This would be a break-even exercise with Theaters pocketing a bigger chunk of the gross, but the fanbase for Carter would grow and would convert more rentals of John Carter into purchases when the film hits home video.
2. Invoke the good name PIXAR for the home video release, albeit a different flavor of PIXAR. They didn’t market John Carter as a PIXAR film because of the violence and adult themes, which makes sense. Just as I have oft-mentioned that Cars 2 would be better served with a PIXAR Kids or PIXAR Family moniker**, John Carter could be buoyed by the PIXAR name if skewed for the adults. It would need a Criterion vibe; something like PIXAR Revue, PIXAR Cinema, or PIXAR Spotlight. This brand would give the film further credibility and perhaps a spot on the list of Disney PIXAR video collectors. Remember: strong video sales can give birth to a film franchise. Worked for Austin Powers, which tanked at the box office.
3. Acknowledge the different fan bases and provide alternate titles for the home video release. I haven’t done a Blu-Ray design here for a while, apologies. But for John Carter’s Blu I would include 2 additional covers for the box depicting alternate titles: A Princess of Mars and John Carter of Mars. This way fans can display the box with the title of their choosing. I’d go a step further and include those titles as being displayed when the film plays. Yes it would take a bit of trickery to allow for the choice and to swap titles on the fly, but it is do-able. This way fans can adopt the film title they like, and that adds a bit more appeal when it comes time to purchase.
4. Day one Director’s Cut. Film studios like to pocket Director’s Cuts for ‘double dip’ film releases down the road (usually opting to release a vanilla version first). Disney typically doesn’t do that, usually selling feature-rich combo packs to start off with. But for John Carter it would serve Disney well to throw in everything and the kitchen sink. That means a plethora of features and some game-changers like Director’s Cuts or Extended Editions. This release has to turn a lot of heads and get the cinephiles talking up a storm.
5. Supplemental media. This film must have been a merchandising nightmare. The books for which it is based are public domain, and you can’t do any toy tie-ins. How do you nurture a film franchise when the film is such a standalone product? In this day and age merchandise is a huge piece of the pie, and I’m a little surprised Disney sunk $250M on a film that relied almost entirely on box office alone. The Barsoom books were re-released in a shiny John Carter polish, but that was it. Put your Marvel acquisition to work Disney! Graphic Novels and Motion Comics would have introduced Carter to a new generation. These inexpensive mediums would grow the fanbase and expand the Barsoom lore.
This also addresses the lack of awareness for the John Carter character and Barsoom books. It seems to me that the film was released under the assumption John Carter was as engrained in the pop culture zeitgeist as Batman or King Kong. John Carter didn’t really have a built-in audience, at least not in this century.
*And Tron Legacy was supposed to be Disney’s Star Wars. Been a rough few years for the house that Mickey built.
** Cars 2 is not the same caliber of previous PIXAR films. I suppose Cars and even A Bug’s Life could be re-purposed for a kid-friendly PIXAR moniker too.
Be sure to check out the other entries in my “Salvageable Film” series.
Excellent article on the botched marketing for John Carter at Vulture.com.
Posted on May 10, 2012, in Books, Comics, Films and tagged Consumerism, Entertainment, Films, Money, Salvageable Films. Bookmark the permalink. 17 Comments.
I saw John Carter in the theater, only because I had heard by word of mouth how good it was. I didn’t really know anything about the Barsoom series. Disney’s marketing, I believe, dropped the ball. I hope someone sees these ideas and they push DVD/Blu-ray sales up and they greenlight at least one sequel.
I too saw it based on strong word of mouth. Glad I did! Prior to that though the film had nothing resembling a “can’t-miss event” vibe going for it, something that all blockbuster films cultivate (See: Prometheus, Dark Knight Rises).
Love you ideas, I saw John carter and was enthralled. Seen in 12 times (hides nerdy eyes behind a face palm) And I really want a sequel. I hope that these things come to pass and I can see John Carter again on screen. Andrew stanton planned on a trilogy. Kaor
Hey Dave, Thanks for your thoughtful posting. I’ve loved this movie from the first Mars scenes…and really thought it was a amazingly entertaining film. Hard to duplicate the impact of seeing Star Wars for the first time in 1977, but this actually came close for me (and a lot of other people who saw it). I would add that it has now almost made $300M worldwide, has a built in audience already for a JC II and III, and with a few of your ideas above bundled with making II and III simultaneously for say another $250 total, they’d be looking at a $900M or more global take. There is a fricking GOLDMINE here for Disney if they will just show some Mickey huevos! Nice post, and thanks again!
You could also invoke the good name of Marvel considering that John Carter has had a long history with the comic book giant.
With the large and growing fan efforts to support John Carter and get those sequels, I believe it can happen. I loved the film and saw it 7 times. I’m really hoping things will turn around when people finally see the film and realize its no turkey, but a great movie that got the short end of the stick.
Great article, Dave, you made some excellent points. JOHN CARTER was the most enjoyable movie experience I have had so far this year, even after seeing that great AVENGERS movie, and I do have high hopes that we can wrangle a franchise of sequels eventually from Disney through the DVD/Blu-Ray sales. Slim as our chances are, we shall see how it grows in the days ahead. Thank you for your thoughtful support!
Kaor, Dave. Good article. I saw Star Wars as a college student and enjoyed it but seeing John Carter was amazing. The story is fantastic. But as a John Carter fan from the early sixties with comics and later in the seventies with the comics and the books, I loved him and Dejah Thoris far better than anyother Burroughs heros. I even like this movie better than the lotr or the narina movies. Cannot get enough of John Carter. Posters go to the facebook pages “take me back to barsoom” and read some of the fan fiction for the movie. I really think sequels are possible with the same set of cast. Lynn Collins was fantastic as Dejah Thoris. The story I enjoyed even though it was changed from the original text.
When Disney re-released John Carter as part of a double billing with the Avengers, the film got a huge boost in the box office, bringing it up to the top 20 once again and re-introduced to the American market where it had floundered due to poor marketing by Disney. I only hope that Disney follows some of the ideas that you’ve outlined here. It could turn John Carter into a profitable franchise for Disney. I’d very much like to see the trilogy that Andrew Stanton had proposed and be able to return back to barsoom in the near future. John Carter was an excellent film. I normally don’t get this excited over movies these days, but John Carter reminds me of the fever I felt when I saw Star Wars for the first time. It is that good. I believe that John Carter will be regarded as a new classic once the dust has settled. It deserves much better treatment than it received.
Thank you for this post. I am one of the many John Carter fans hoping for sequels. I loved the movie because it felt new and familiar at the same time and I think it does have the potential to become a truly great franchise.
I’m glad you guys dug this article! Seems those who have seen the film are very passionate about it — that’s quite telling. Can’t wait to see the reception for the film when it hits Blu-Ray in June.
I like your article, but I’m confused by your statement that because the book is in public domain, Disney couldn’t do any toy tie-ins (or anything else for that matter). That doesn’t make sense. I believe they could have made movie likenesses of all of the characters and made a boat-load of cash. They did a graphic novel and that as pretty much it. I believe the character names are still trademarked and they could have gone after any copycats of any that looked like the movie versions. Besides, even if some non-Disney merch hit the shelves, it would still be good exposure for the brand. The merchandising nightmare was of their own creation. Disney CHOOSE to do nothing (besides some weak trailers). That’s it. Bob Iger (CEO of Disney) recently admitted as much. Google his video interview with Bloomberg. He killed this franchise with his almighty Hollywood wisdom. Disney board of directors get a clue, boot his sorry @$$ out and TAKE ME BACK TO BARSOOM!!!!
Disney left so much money at the table and burned a generation of fans with their treatment of this amazing film. They had everything to do with the failure of this film at the box office and NOTHING to do with the success of The Avengers. How can no one in the major media see this??? Marvel Studios should take over this brand and treat it with the respect and box office glory it deserves. I have spoken.
Dave, Great article with excellent ideas! It would be amazing if Disney’s CEO pulled his head out of the sand and followed these ideas. Unfortunately, it now appears that he was one of the people behind the preordained “flop” narrative that preceded the premiere of the film. (Amazing!!) In any event, I do believe this could be a huge franchise if a studio that respected the property took it over…someone perhaps like Marvel. We’ll see. The home videos, especially the four-disc 3D blu-ray, of John Carter do seem to be selling well on Amazon. Maybe it will sell enough to interest someone in doing sequels. I certainly hope so!!
The trick here? Get these ideas in the right hands. I’ll see what I can do. Cross your fingers.
I have pretty much given up hope that they will do anything sane concerning this movie. I feel like it was run by the same teachers that threw me out of class when they caught me reading the books in high school. We know they will use none of these ideas. It seems to me as if they wanted it to fail from the beginning.
There is a difference between wanting a movie to fail, and trying to cut your losses to a minimum. I believe Disney never wanted this film to fail, but there came a point when it looked like it wouldn’t succeed and Disney had to brace for that. No studio green-lights a film with the intention of failing (save for the 90′s Fantastic Four debacle!).
Given the choice (and armed with crystal-clear hindsight), DIsney would not proceed with a Carter film. And if they did, it would be a much cheaper one with a much smaller scale (Pitch Black meets District 9). Every major studio has a few film releases they’d like to take back.