In Response to My Own Wish

Okay, two days ago in my post titled Avenged, particularly in John Carter film review, I wished like this: "Personally I like the ending, so no sequel please." I do, I really do like the ending, in fact I might now say those magic words ob qi tu we asi Barsoom! (dafuq did I just wrote?) Yeah still in Jarsoom apparently. Anyways, my wish came true after I saw the news today! No sequel will be made, although they are already planned and is going to be titled John Carter: Gods of Mars or something.

Unfortunately, it is because of the film being a flop. Disney reported that because of this film's incredibly budget of $250m, excluding marketing costs, they suffered a $200m loss. As of this being written, John Carter only earned roughly $180m. It could recoup it's budget but the chances of making profit is really slim. It's so funny that 'John Carter loss' is on the Top 10 of Yahoo! Search but I never saw 'John Carter' on that Top 10.

I could offer some theory to why didn't John Carter succeed and went on to be a mega-hit.

1. No stars
I know it's located in Barsoom/Mars but with no star power (Taylor Kitsch is hardly a star when people across the globe never watched Friday Night Lights), the film cannot carry itself independently. I personally watched this film for Mark Strong. But who in this wide world watch that movie for the same reason except for Mark Strong's family?

2. Too violent & heavy
From the trailers, this film looks really heavy, especially for those who never heard of the books. And parents will go, "oh this is a heavy Disney film and it has some serious fight scenes which may be too intense for my kids. Let's just rent this on NetFlix and wait for Hunger Games"

3. Trailers
The trailers are not that interesting, really. $100m budget of marketing but still not a decent trailer? I gotta say the posters are quite smooth and nice but the trailers are also vital!

4. Too sexy
Princess Dejah Thoris is too sexy for Walt Disney. I could imagine young adolescent teenagers aged from 9-14 had difficulties of sitting still when the princess is going to marry that Zodanga leader. (if you know what I mean)

But I do pity two people though, Andrew Stanton and Steve Jobs. Andrew Stanton is one of the best director out there but with this film, he sinks too. I was just hoping he could copy Brad Bird's success. For Steve Jobs, I pity him because this film was dedicated to him and it turns out to be a flop.

For the actors, I don't think it would affect them. Taylor Kitsch already has Battleship, Lynn Collins at least will have herself being hanged on a wall of some teen boys, the other supporting actors are already accomplished actors so, no problem.

So, it's legit. John Carter joins the ranks with Prince of Persia, Eragon, and The Golden Compass as failed adaptations. There may be some others but I don't care to name them. I'm too sleepy.