John Carter (2012)

Directed by

Andrew Stanton

Genre

fantasy film, action film, adventure film, science fiction film, planetary romance

Country

United States

Runtime

2h 12m

Rated

PG-13

Rating

6.4 of 10 from 6,166 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

A Civil War veteran is transported to Mars, where he finds himself caught between warring alien kingdoms. He uses his newfound abilities to try to broker peace and protect the people he meets.

fast-pacedepicgrandiosewhimsicalold-fashionedaction-packedexotic

What happens

John Carter (titled on-screen as John Carter of Mars) is a 2012 American science fiction action-adventure film directed by Andrew Stanton, written by Stanton, Mark Andrews, and Michael Chabon, and based on A Princess of Mars, the first book in the Barsoom series of novels by Edgar Rice Burroughs. Produced by Jim Morris, Colin Wilson and Lindsey Collins, it stars Taylor Kitsch in the title role, with Lynn Collins, Samantha Morton, Mark Strong, Ciarán Hinds, Dominic West, James Purefoy and Willem Dafoe co-starring in supporting roles. It chronicles the first interplanetary adventure of John Carter and his attempts to mediate civil conflict amongst the warring kingdoms of Barsoom. Several attempts to adapt the Barsoom series had been made since the 1930s by various major studios and producers. Most of these efforts ultimately stalled in development hell. In the late-2000s, Walt Disney Pictures began a concerted effort to adapt Burroughs' works to film, after an abandoned venture in the 1980s. The project was driven by Stanton, who had pressed Disney to renew the screen rights from the Burroughs estate. Stanton became the new film's director in 2009. It was his live-action debut, after his directorial work for Disney on Pixar's Finding Nemo and WALL-E. Stanton and his Pixar colleague Andrews wrote the initial draft of the screenplay, which Chabon was brought on to revise. Filming began in November 2009, with principal photography underway in January 2010, wrapping seven months later in July. Michael Giacchino, who scored many Pixar films, composed the music. As with Pixar's Brave that same year, the film is dedicated to the memory of Steve Jobs, who was CEO and majority shareholder of Pixar prior to Disney's acquisition in 2006. John Carter had its world premiere at the Regal Cinemas at L.A. Live in Los Angeles on February 22, 2012, and was released in the United States by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures on March 9, marking the centennial of the titular character's first appearance. It was presented in Disney Digital 3D, RealD 3D and IMAX 3D formats. John Carter received mixed reviews, with praise for its visuals, Giacchino's score, and the action sequences, but criticism of the characterization and plot. It failed at the North American box office, but set an opening-day record in Russia. It grossed $284 million at the worldwide box office, resulting in a $200 million writedown for Disney, becoming one of the biggest box office bombs in history and also becoming the film with the largest estimated box-office loss adjusted for inflation ever, losing $149–265 million. With a total cost of $350 million, including an estimated production budget of $263 million, it is one of the most expensive films ever made. Due to its box office performance, Disney cancelled plans for Gods of Mars and Warlord of Mars, the rest of the trilogy Stanton had planned. Much of the film's failure has been attributed to its promotion, which has been called "one of the worst marketing campaigns in movie history". (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

Trailer

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