John Carter of Mars - A hero before your time.

Daria Brooks May 22, 2012 at 10:17 pm

You're right: There is NO fault in this amazingly beautiful and greatly enjoyable film. The fault was with Disney, who deliberately sabotaged their own creation, bypassing their own tried-and-true twin bludgeoning strategies of advertising and marketing their products. Instead, they barely put up print advertising and sent the delightful Taylor Kitsch to a couple of TV shows for publicity...LAST NOVEMBER, for a film opening in March. No toys, no Happy Meal promotion, no plush Woola soft toys...only a couple of Disney print books. That's it. Despite all of this, the film performed beautifully in Europe and elsewhere and has earned 75% of its money around the world. I've seen this film 27 times now and always watch and listen to the audiences. The verdict? Audiences LOVE this film--but they've had to find out about it solely by word-of-mouth. Hopefully, fortunes will change for this now cherished favorite of mine, and groups like Facebook's 'Take Me Back To Barsoom' are helping to get the word out. "John Carter" is magnificent--SEE IT!

Dr. Mark Solomon May 23, 2012 at 12:52 am

Thanks Daria - I can only hope that John Carter can make a recovery like The Usual Suspects or The Shawshank Redemption, two other movies that did tepid box office but ultim ately became blockbuster favorites.
It was really sad to see a cartoon captioned "where disney executives go to to be alone" The drawing was a man buying a ticket to see John Carter. It took John Carter awhile to get his "mars" legs - lets hope it just takes a while for this film to do the same.