We didn’t like John Carter. Nor, it seems, did the vast majority of the movie-going public worldwide as the film is now expected to register a whopping $200 million loss, per a statement from Disney.
Synopsis: Transplanted to Mars, a Civil War vet discovers a lush planet inhabited by 12-foot tall barbarians. Finding himself a prisoner of these creatures, he escapes, only to encounter a princess who is in desperate need of a savior.
Disney were clearly aiming high with their industrial-age Martian epic, which reportedly cost upwards of $250 million to make + promotion costs. Evidently it seems modern audiences aren’t woo’d by a trip to Mars, as much as they are a trip to another galaxy. Mars, it seems, just isn’t as far away as it used to be…
For its time, Edgar Rice Burrough’s story was revolutionary and served as a pre-cursor to many of its Sci-Fi successors including Star Wars.
If I read the synopsis above in the 1940s, I’d probably be impressed. Reading it now, it sounds like something you’d expect to find in the bargain basket at Tesco.
Source: Deadline
N.B: As a cash-strapped student, I could’ve bought approximately 755 million Freddo bars with the money John Carter lost. That would cover my lunch for eternity.
