Disney's John Carter flopped tremendously over the weekend due in part due to a bungled marketing campaign.
The trailer was criticized for looking like an utterly generic science fiction movie.
Even I, a sci-fi fan, had zero interest in seeing the film until I happened upon a few facts that were left out of the trailer.
1. The movie is based on an important work of science fiction. Published in 1917, A Princess Of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs was cited as a major influence by Ray Bradbury, Arthur C. Clark and Carl Sagan.
2. The script was co-written by literary phenom Michael Chabon, author of The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay.
3. The movie was directed by Andrew Stanton, the guy who wrote Toy Story and directed Finding Nemo and Wall-E, some of the most highly acclaimed crossover hits of our time.
These facts convinced me to see the movie, and sure enough I was impressed. John Carter has gravitas, a good story and incredible CGI.
But the only thing that can save it now is word of mouth. Otherwise Disney is looking at a writedown of $100 million to $165 million.