Super Screening? Boston Herald (and others) report John Carter screening for Patriots, Giants, and families

The Boston Herald, IGN,  and other media outlets are reporting that Disney’s John Carter was to be screened Friday afternoon at an Indianapolis cinema for the Patriots, Giants, and their families.

Here’s how IGN is reporting it:

Longtime Patriots fan and Pixar directorAndrew Stanton will be screening his latest Disney film, John Carter, for both teams and their families prior to the big game. What this really tells us of course is that the film is officially in the can and ready for theater viewing.

Now … this was supposed to happen yesterday afternoon.  A few thoughts: First, this is another indication of Disney’s confidence that the film itself (as opposed to the marketing) actually delivers. It is very risky to unveil a film early unless you know (via test screenings) that audiences are going to respond well to it.  Disney has multiple free advance screenings going on — 6 screenings at Disney world, the GMA Sweepstakes, and now this.  All of that indicates confidence in the film itself.

On the marketing front, Disney seems to be laboring to find the right way to pitch the project to a public who hasn’t yet made up its mind.  The latest entry is a decidedly “kiddie” oriented “featurette” which is really — at 61 seconds — more of a trailer.  Markedly different in tone from other generally released trailers, this one (which I don’t think has made it to television but is getting wide play on the internet) is generally being well reviewed, even as adult-minded reviewers grouse about the kiddie-oriented narrator.