History Trivia / JohnCarter

* CreatorKiller: Studio executive Rich Ross was fired from his position as Disney Studios leader weeks after Disney predicted they'd lose $200 million on the project; he holds the MedalOfDishonor of being the only Disney Studios chairman since Ron Miller's ousting to lost his job thanks to being simply incompetent in command, with the four chairmen before him (the first of which was Jeffrey Katzenberg, who exited on the back of ''Disney/TheLionKing'') leaving for creative differences (the executive who helmed the marketing campaign also got the boot). Also resulted in a StillbornFranchise for the foreseeable future.
** Director Andrew Stanton has possibly survived being slated to direct ''WesternAnimation/FindingDory'' due in 2016. That said, it's unlikely he will be allowed to work in live action again.

* HeyItsThatGuy:
** [[Film/XMenOriginsWolverine Gambit]] is John Carter. [[Film/XMenOriginsWolverine Kayla Silver Fox]] is Dejah Thoris.
** [[Series/{{Rome}} Julius Caesar and Mark Antony]] are Tardos Mors and Kantos Kan.
*** Alternatively, Tardos Mors is [[Series/{{GameOfThrones}} The King Beyond The Wall]]
*** [[Series/{{Rome}} Caesar's slave Posca]] is John Carter's attorney.
** [[TheWire Detective Jimmy McNulty]] is Sab Than.
** [[Film/KickAss Frank D'Amico]] / [[Film/SherlockHolmes Lord Blackwood]] is Matai Shang.
*** [[VideoGame/Warhammer40000SpaceMarine Captain]] [[{{Badass}} Titus]] too.
** [[SpyKids Agent Juni Cortez]] / [[GeneratorRex Rex Salazar]] is Creator/EdgarRiceBurroughs.
** [[Series/BreakingBad Walter White]] is the Yankee Colonel.
* HeyItsThatVoice:
** The leadership of the Tharks is contested by [[Film/SpiderManTrilogy Green Goblin and Sandman]]. Figures they'd settle for a Marvel movie ''hero'' (okay, AntiHero).
** [[Series/{{Rome}} Atia of the Julii]] is Sarkoja.
** [[Film/MinorityReport Agatha]] is Sola.

* BoxOfficeBomb: One of the biggest in recent memory. It cost an absurd $250 million to make and pulled in an anemic $73 million at the domestic box office. Overseas was much much better at $211 million. A big part of this was coming out at the same time as ''WesternAnimation/TheLorax'' and ''Film/TheHungerGames''.

** The two really weren't competing against each other as the films were aimed towards totally different audiences (this film for young males, ''The Hunger Games'' for teen girls). This film's actual rival was ''[[ClashOfTheTitans Wrath Of The Titans]]'' (a similar literary concept with big action sequences, a buff male lead and releases in 3-D).

* CreatorKiller: Studio executive Rich Ross was fired from his position as Disney Studios leader weeks after Disney predicted they'd lose $200 million on the project (the executive who helmed the marketing campaign also got the boot). Also resulted in a StillbornFranchise for the foreseeable future.

* BoxOfficeBomb: One of the biggest in recent memory. It cost an absurd $250 million to make and pulled in an anemic $73 million at the domestic box office. Overseas was much much better at $211 million.

** There were reservations at Disney about letting Stanton direct the film, despite his obvious sentimental attachment to the material, because he'd never directed a live-action feature before. But, since he'd made ''WesternAnimation/{{WALL-E}}'' and ''WesternAnimation/FindingNemo'' into hits, they let him do it even though he warned them, "I'm not gonna get it right the first time, I'll tell you that right now." Indeed, the film required extensive double reshoots. Throughout production, he ignored the advice of the crewmembers who were live-action veterans in favor of his Pixar friends, back in their offices. Rich Ross and the other studio executives at Disney likewise had little experience with feature films, since most had come from television.

** [[MinorityReport Agatha]] is Sola.

* CreatorKiller: Studio executive Rich Ross was fired from his position as Disney Studios leader weeks after Disney predicted they'd lose $200 million on the project. Also resulted in a StillbornFranchise for the foreseeable future.

* TroubledProduction: Versions of this movie had been in production since the 1930's. Many different studios tried to make it but never got out of pre-production...

** The film's budget qualifies all on its own. At $250 million dollar budget is some $20 million more then James Cameron spent on ''Film/{{Avatar}}''. And unlike the man behind then [[Film/{{Titanic}} highest grossing film in history]], Director Stanton had never made a live action picture.

** The film's budget qualifies all on its own. At $250 million dollar budget is some $20 million more then James Cameroon spent on ''Film/{{Avatar}}''. And unlike the man behind then [[Film/{{Titanic}} highest grossing film in history]], Director Stanton had never made a live action picture.

* ExecutiveMeddling: The film was titled ''JohnCarterOfMars'' at first, but the 'Mars' was dropped, leaving the film with a nondescript name as the title. That the movie even takes place on Mars was downplayed in marketing, along with any mention of creator Creator/EdgarRiceBurroughs.

** The leadership of the Tharks is contested by [[Film/SpiderMan Green Goblin and Sandman]]. Figures they'd settle for a Marvel movie ''hero'' (okay, AntiHero).

** Director Andrew Stanton has possibly survived being slated to direct ''WesternAnimation/FindingDory'' due in 2016. Its unlikely he will be allowed to work in live action again.

** If this math seems funny to you first consider marketing is good for at least another $100 million. Secondly the studio does not receive all of that box office money, it splits about half with theater chains domestically. Overseas returns are even lower, where some nations like China don't allow more then 25% of a film gross to leave the country. Also major individuals like directors often have a cut of the gross.

* ExecutiveMeddling: The film was apparently titled ''JohnCarterOfMars'' at first. A promotional logo for the film is a stylized "JCM". But then Mars was dropped, leaving the film with a nondescript title. John Carter is a quite ordinary name compared to the likes of ComicStrip/FlashGordon or ComicStrip/BuckRogers and it stands out precisely because of the association with Mars. No wonder this didn't go over well with fans and others. Not to mention that Mars, including the JCM logo, was downplayed in the marketing (along with any mention of creator Creator/EdgarRiceBurroughs, the guy also responsible for Literature/{{Tarzan}} among others...)
** Reportedly, the name change was done to disassociate it with ''MarsNeedsMoms'', and/or because people thought girls [[SciFiGhetto wouldn't watch movies with "Mars" in the title.]] Earlier on, the original book title ''A Princess of Mars'' was dropped because people thought boys wouldn't watch movies with "princess" in the title (the underperformance of ''Disney/ThePrincessAndTheFrog'' for Disney in 2009 was partially blamed on this).

** Granted, once one remembers that film journalists get much of their information from executives, perhaps the above should be taken with a massive grain of salt as an attempt to throw Stanton under the bus.

** Director Andrew Stanton has possibly survived being slated to direct [[FindingNemo Finding Dory]] due in 2016. Its unlikely he will be allowed to work in live action again.

* TroubledProduction: There were reservations at Disney about letting Stanton direct the film, despite his obvious sentimental attachment to the material, because he'd never directed a live-action feature before. But, since he'd made ''WesternAnimation/{{WALL-E}}'' and ''WesternAnimation/FindingNemo'' into hits, they let him do it even though he warned them, "I'm not gonna get it right the first time, I'll tell you that right now." Indeed, the film required extensive double reshoots. Throughout production, he ignored the advice of the crewmembers who were live-action veterans in favor of his Pixar friends, back in their offices. Rich Ross and the other studio executives at Disney likewise had little experience with feature films, since most had come from television.

** The film's budget qualifies all on its own. At $250 million dollar budget is some $20 million more then James Cameroon spent on {{Avatar}}. And unlike the man behind then [[{{Titanic}} highest grossing film in history]], Director Stanton had never made a live action picture.

* BoxOfficeBomb: Not as badly as Disney initially thought. The film had a production budget of $250 million, $350 million if you include marketing. While it underperformed tragically stateside with only $73 million, but [[http://www.forbes.com/sites/carolpinchefsky/2012/04/02/john-carters-trip-to-mars-is-finally-profitable/ (barely)]] recouped its budget with $282 million worldwide. On the bright side, ''Carter's'' losses were significantly less than fellow Disney movies ''Film/MarsNeedsMoms'' and ''Film/TheLoneRanger.''
** This seems to be based on the misconception that the studio keeps every dollar that is spent on the film. In reality they get about fifty cents on the dollar from US first-run exhibitions, and even less in the case of the foreign markets the film depended upon so heavily. If anyone ever finds the "real" Disney Studios books, they'd probably show John Carter as a loss even as of 2013.
* CreatorKiller: Rich Ross was fired from his position as Disney Studios leader weeks after Disney predicted they'd lose $200 million on the project (though currently the actual losses stand at just less than $''100'' million, and that's if you count the advertising budget). The film, however, hasn't been proven a StillbornFranchise ''yet'', though it's dangerously close to being one considering where it stands at the moment, [[VindicatedByCable though considering its performance on retail shelves..... ]]
** [[DespairEventHorizon ...means there will never be another film, TV, or even animated adaptation to these stories ever again.]][[note]]And now that Disney has the rights to ''Franchise/StarWars'', there's even less incentive to continue a franchise.[[/note]]
** Despite this, the director and two of the stars are adamant that there will be another film.

** The two really weren't competing against each other as the films were aimed towards totally different audiences (this film for young males, ''The Hunger Games'' for teen girls). This film's actual rival was ''[[ClashOfTheTitans Wrath Of The Titans]]'' (a similar literary concept with big action sequences, a buff male lead and releases in 3-D) while ''The Hunger Games'' had ''[[{{Twilight}} Breaking Dawn Part II]]'' as its main rival (oddly enough, Lionsgate owns both ''The Hunger Games'' and ''Twilight'').

** [[BreakingBad Walter White]] is the Yankee Colonel.