Directed by: Andrew Stanton
Let's begin with how huge of a box office bomb John Carter turned out to be. For a film produced on a $250 million budget, with at least $100 million spent on P&A, and countless millions on distribution, to have not yet reached $70 million domestically after seven weeks is just sad. Even when accounting for its $200 million overseas gross, Disney expects to lose at least $200 million. I enjoyed most of the film, but as a filmmaker I can't comprehend how so many people could let something go so wrong. Rich Ross is definitely partially to blame, but he probably shouldn't have been the only person forced to resign.To me, the scariest thing about this film is the fact that mistakes like this are allowed to happen. How can an industry survive that produces John Carter, Mars Needs Moms, Green Lantern, Hugo (which I absolutely love, but still lost almost $100 million), and many more big budget films that flop? Yes the industry is buoyed by the Harry Potters and the Hunger Games, as well as low budget and modestly profitable films, DVD sales, rentals, merchandizing, licensing, etc., but the primary function of films has been, and in my opinion should always be, its theatrical release. Yes that viewpoint is archaic and unrealistic, but the cinema is a place for dreaming, whether that be of faraway lands, wizards, figurative chess matches, or the human condition.
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On a different note, as soon as my girlfriend figured out and whispered to me that Willem Dafoe was voicing Tars Tarkas, all I could think about was the terrible, awful, sickening, yet beautifully made film from Lars von Trier. If you don't know what I'm talking about, DO NOT go look it up. Please. I'm begging you. It's for your own good.
2.5 out of 5 stars
Viewed March 15, 2012
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