Will Disney’s ‘John Carter’ Be Hollywood’s Biggest Bomb?

I’ll admit it. I haven’t been the biggest cheerleader for this film. I thought that changing the name to John Carter from John Carter of Mars was a cheap marketing ploy aimed at getting women into the seats. It might have worked… if the trailers weren’t filled with aliens and giant mutant gorillas… not exactly chick flick fare. I’ve also not really been sold on the cast, but I wasn’t expecting the film’s situation to be as bad as Deadline Hollywood is proclaiming it to be.

Here’s what one Hollywood insider had to say about the early tracking on the film:
“Not good. 2 unaided, 53 aware, 27 definitely interested, 3 first choice,” a senior exec at a rival studio emails me. Another writes me, ”It just came out. Women of all ages have flat out rejected the film. The tracking for John Carter is shocking for a film that cost over $250 million. This could be the biggest writeoff of all time.”

Those numbers add up to a population who is relatively indifferent to the movie. What’s worse is that the movie only has 2 weeks to carve out some earnings before Jennifer Lawrence sets the world on fire with The Hunger Games.

Here’s the good news though. Several films have tanked domestically and redeemed themselves with global box office. I know there are… I just can’t think of any off the top of my head.

The weird thing is… I’m rootin` for this film. I want it to Succeed for Andrew Stanton. I want the guy who gave me Finding Nemo and Wall-E to succeed in live action films because I think he’s got a lot to offer.

Source: Deadline