A Really Interesting John Carter Fan Trailer

Michael Sellers Other Stuff

Now this is interesting. It’s by Anthony Lopez.  It’s basically the dreaded Disney trailer, modified with some well-placed graphics cards which provide the context that the trailer is missing.  For me, the simple addition of the cards — which are intelligently thought out and well placed — vastly improve the trailer.  It’s an interesting object lesson in how the brain works.

11 comments

  • “And More” could be a whole lot of things indeed… Fingers crossed for Finding Dory first, and for Gods of Mars second. As long as Andrew Stanton doesn’t say himself “game over on John Carter, guys”, I will keep on hoping! But yes, it will be a long game, if it’s played at all.

    We should already be at the fourth or fifth Barsoom adaptation by now…

  • Yesterday, from Stanton’s Twitter account:

    andrew stanton ?@andrewstanton 21h
    Sorry for the absence, but… Twitter silence for 6 months = Finding Dory (and more.) #staytuned

    “And more”? Doth he tease us?

  • If a sequel happens, awesome! If it doesn’t, and a reboot becomes the only chance for all of us to go back to Barsoom, there’s no telling who might emerge with passion to realize Barsoom on the big screen, and there’s no telling if circumstances might coalesce even more favorably than they did with Stanton and Cook.

    In any case, whether one prefers a sequel or a reboot, or would appreciate either, we are all in for the long game. Hopefully that means only a few years, and not a decade or more. However long it takes, Barsoom still lives!

  • I believe even less in the possibility of a reboot than in a sequel. What I believe in is Stanton’s passion for his John Carter project (if his passion is mislead regarding to some hard-core ERB purist is another topic. I don’t believe for one second that Stanton is cynical about this project or any other). His passion is all that’s left. If it’s gone, then there is nothing left and we fans of the movie can only mourn about lost opportunities. The planets won’t be aligned the good way anytime soon as they were when Stanton suggested and obtained the project from Dick Cook.

    There’s still in me this tiny hope that Andrew Stanton is willing to finish what he has planned, and that there’s still in him the need to prove that, in Michael’s words, “the flop wasn’t a turkey”. I suppose that makes me a Stantonite, since I have nothing to assert my point except blind faith in a man I don’t know on a personal level!

    But on the other hand I don’t expect any news soon. Hopefully in the meantime John Carter will gain more devoted followers. Fingers crossed.

  • Here’s the link to the article from six months ago which includes comments from Stanton: http://articles.latimes.com/2012/sep/08/entertainment/la-et-mn-john-carter-director-20120908

    It is a key article for fans of Disney’s John Carter, and has a very personal, almost memoir quality to it. As far as I know, there hasn’t been an equally substantial article, news-wise and plans-wise, since September 8th. Nothing has reversed or changed the essential state of things since then, to the best of my knowledge.

    An excerpt: “In 2007, when he wrote his first draft, adapting it from a 1917 Edgar Rice Burroughs novel, he and Disney executives hoped the movie would launch a lucrative new sci-fi franchise. On its release critics praised the visuals but knocked the story as messy and overlong. It opened to a lackluster $30 million in the U.S., although it went on to gross $283 million worldwide, not nearly enough to pay off the studio’s hefty investment of more than $250 million plus marketing, nor warrant the sequel Stanton had begun outlining.”

    Also: “Stanton’s next directing project will be a sequel to “Finding Nemo.”… “What was immediately on the list was writing a second ‘Carter’ movie,” he said. When that went away, everything slid up. I know I’ll be accused by more sarcastic people that it’s a reaction to ‘Carter’ not doing well, but only in its timing, but not in its conceit.”

    And: “”The ennui you have after a huge success when it’s all over is exactly the same as the ennui you have when it’s a bomb,” he said. “You loved the doing. You’ve spent every waking moment thinking about its birth, worrying about it, raising it. It’s an empty nest syndrome. Whether your kid went to college or went to jail, it’s an empty nest.”

    Remember to click on “page 2” at the bottom of the first page.

    I remember treasuring that article when it came out six months after the release of John Carter, and we finally heard from Stanton. He took the chance, did his best, should be proud, and seems to have moved on to other things.

  • MCR said: “we need a shift away from sequel talk to reboot”

    Ultimately, I agree. For the last year I’ve been hoping for any signs of life for a sequel, but aside from some polite “don’t rain on their parade” comments to the fans from Andrews and Morris, there has been NOTHING to indicate that anyone involved with the project is even pursuing a sequel. Stanton’s comments six months ago sounded very much like a gentle-as-can-be way to leave the whole enterprise in the past. I have rooted for them to have their underdog comeback, and could certainly begin rooting again in that direction, but there needs to be a tangible sign that they are even pursuing it.

    Unless there is some careful “keep the sequel under wraps” conspiracy going on out there between the production team and Disney, then all signs point to a reboot being our only option for going “back to Barsoom”. There is a petition of nearly ten thousand signatures now, I think. I say we make a nuisance of ourselves and send it to Peter Jackson. Or if he passes, then to Warner Bros. in general. I “sensed” Barsoom more clearly the night I first saw Fellowship of the Ring than I have for any other film, so I’d like to give PJ first dibs. I at least hope he gives it thorough consideration before making a decision. With the rights being tied up, we have almost two years before anyone will really be able to do anything with the property anyways.

    No matter what happens in the next few years, I, for one, will continue to pursue a Barsoom reboot until someone takes us on the genuine bull ride.

  • I agree with one thing and have a few contrarian follow-up comments. As for the trailer the titles do help but the footage needed to be spiced up with less white ape and Evil Emperor Matai Shang but oh well. You can only do so much with what was shot (and reshot and reshot and reedited and BrainTrusted approved and…well you get the idea).

    As for Richard’s idea, yes Cameron and Lucas should have been interviewed. Both have admitted to being influenced by ERB and I’m sure if someone had asked-especially since Lucas has close ties with Disney and Pixar-they probably would have done it. Sadly someone decided not to and the result was the marketing mess we got.

    As for Abe’s comment about what the marketing team for any potential reboot would face, yes get Lucas and Cameron. But I figure their biggest issue will be convincing people to give John Carter of Mars another shot after Stanton’s debacle and making sure that people don’t associate their film with this one. I guess that’s why we need a shift away from sequel talk to reboot. Maybe it’s time to rethink the campaign because at this point its falling on deaf ears, like Disney’s marketing did for Stanton Mopey Carter did.

  • Richard wrote: “What would have made an even greater marketing impact would have been Disney actually enlisting George Lucas and James Cameron to promote the film.”

    Totally agree. My thought has been of a 2.5 or 3-minute trailer, inter-cut documentary-style with short comments from Lucas and Cameron – with perhaps a longer piece on the Blu-ray. I wouldn’t think either of them would mind sitting down for a quick interview of that type, to touch on how ERB inspired them. Or if they were willing, a couple key appearances at events would be awesome – Comic Con, other gatherings, the world premiere, etc..

    If a Barsoom reboot gets going, I hope the marketing folks pursue that element.

  • Invoking Edgar Rice Burroughs’ legacy could have made all the difference in the advertising campaign for John Carter. The “From the creator of Tarzan” tag alone would have probably pulled people into the theater. Why would you not want people to know that the hero of your movie was created by the same person who gave us the the most well-known character in fiction (if you include “graphic” fiction, I suspect Superman might beat out Tarzan, but as this trailer implies, ERB had an inspirational hand in his birth as well).

    What would have made an even greater marketing impact would have been Disney actually enlisting George Lucas and James Cameron to promote the film. Despite Hollywood politics and the fact that Disney was in the process of buying Lucasfilm at the time, I’ll bet both Lucas and Cameron would have loved to have helped spread the love for the characters and world that’s so inspired their own filmmaking.

  • Pretty awesome I just wish it was still playing at the El Capitain I would go see tomorrow!

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