Andrew Stanton Resumes Friday Tweet Sessions, Takes Some John Carter Questions

11 comments

• Would LOVE to know the behind-door conversations Stanton and John Lasseter have had the last couple years. I think both men are proud of John Carter and are optimistic/hopeful that before the JC contract expires the climate might be such that a sequel could be warranted….assuming the budget could be within reason. The 2 have done a remarkable job publicly of not playing the sour grapes card. Interesting that Stanton has a future live action film in the works.

• “But I don’t think it’s really NDA that’s holding Stanton back. I think he’s still a bit shell shocked with the shellacking he took.”

  Probably, since Stanton brought most of that shelllacking on himself. His “money is no object” attitude, his :”Disney fears me” statements, his infallible boy-genius act. You have to wonder if he didn’t think that would impact people’s opinions about him.

  Also I do think its funny that to make a sequel he would need to get rid of critics. Since I guess they didn’t gush like they did over Wall-E or Nemo he doesn’t need them anymore. Amazing how people get tossed when they no longer worship you.

  Seriously though maybe he doesn’t want to do a sequel when you consider how much his reputation was shredded by John Carter. What studio-other than Pixar, which I guess has gotten used to his Last Son of Krypton routine-would trust him with a movie, considering his lack of respect for the studio, his budget busting and his fights with marketing? The film’s response from those critics also has damaged him. He’s no longer infallible or a “genius” since he failed at something.

  Finally he doesn’t get to say that John Carter is a cult classic. That’s up to an audience in the future to decide. I guess more of his living in that plastic bubble mentality he’s shown.

• I would say too that he needs to be rather careful about what he says if he wants to keep his job with Disney/Pixar which he clearly loves. I know he has strong support at Pixar, but there is probably no limit to the pressure Disney could exert if it gets really, really displeased. He doesn’t have the freedom to go too much out on a limb to push for the movie like a more independent director could, at least not at this time.

• Everybody who works for Disney signs NDA’s….they’re pretty Gestapo about that. That said, the director has more latitude than others. He’s “above it” to a certain extent. However, detailed discussion of profits, etc, would probably be off limits. It’s unlikely that Stanton has much of an inkling of the true financial situation of the film, as his deal is more likely to have bonuses triggered at certain Box Office Gross levels, than through any mystical Hollywood calculation of net profit.

  But I don’t think it’s really NDA that’s holding Stanton back. I think he’s still a bit shell shocked with the shellacking he took. I think he hopes a cult following will gradually rehabilitate the record of what he did, and he is just not feeling chuffed enough to be aggressive about any of it at this point.

• Michael, you be in the business, so perhaps you can answer me. Wouldn’t Stanton (and everyone else who worked on JCM) have signed a non-disclosure agreement with Disney, so he would not be free to discuss budget, profits, studio dealings, etc.? In udder woids, is Stanton restrained in telling us all the things we really want to hear?

• I’m pretty sure he’s hoping that JC will gain true “cult” status (see his hashtag #cultfilmsrule) and that that, plus “evangelizing” by fans, will rehabilitate the film to the point that he can, at some point in the future, take a more active role. That’s not as satisfying to fans of the movie as it would be if he would get fully behind the sequel push a la Josh Wheden . . . . but it is what it is. He really took a horrendous body blow when JC was ridiculed the way it was — “greatest flop in the history of cinema” …… Other directors who have gotten behind a sequel movement didn’t have to dig out of the deep deep deep hole that Stanton/John Carter starts from.

• That’s what I asked Stanton on Twitter when he replied about the 1M fans and no critics.

  “Diana L Cole?@dianalcole23h
  @andrewstanton @ManaByte Don’t you think there might be 1M fans or more (even silent fans) out there? Now how can we get rid of the critics?

  Didn’t get an answer to that. Of course, we still don’t know what went on between him and Disney, and maybe he isn’t ready to make a move or comment on it fully at this time, so whether we are on our own or not is hard to tell with any certainty right now.

• “1M fans and no critics”. Well, I guess there is already more than 1M John Carter fans right now, and it’s probably growing. Not all fans are on Facebook (well, I’m not). Critics of the actual movie were not that big a problem, critics that embrassed the negativity before even seeing the movie were certainly. Oh, and a good marketing team will help too. If Oz is any indication, this part seems in place, at least.

  So, Andrew, what are you waiting for? 🙂 Just kidding. Unfortunately.

• Maybe its just me, but there is a lack of enthusiasm there for a John Carter sequel on Stanton’s part. He acknowledges that the first films exists and thanks fans for supporting it, but doesn’t seem (as far as we know) to be doing anything to push for a sequel on his own. Its like “hey, if Disney comes to us and says they want it, sure we will do it.” But here is the thing, there isn’t a chance in hell Disney is going to come on their own and ask him to make a sequel. He needs to throw his weight around in either Disney or other studios to make it happen, evidently he is not doing this. It feels as though the fans are on their own.

• It’s cool to hear from Stanton, in any case. He doesn’t have to go out of his way to talk to the fans like this, but it means a lot to people.

• No real revelations here, aside from the implication that they aren’t already working on a sequel. It looks like things probably won’t change much until 2015, when the rights will most likely become available. At that point, will Stanton try to go somewhere else with it? Will another studio snatch up the rights?