Tom Cruisehas a career packed with plenty of science fiction films.Edge of Tomorrowsurvived a turbulent productionand became a surprise success.Oblivionmay not have been as successful, but it led to Cruise working withJoseph Kosinski, and the two eventually reunited forTop Gun: Maverick. One could even argue that the technology used by Cruise’s Ethan Hunt in the Mission: Impossible franchise borders on the edge of science fiction. But there’s one science fiction moviethat Cruise never managed to become a part of, despite his desire to play the lead role, and that’sJohn Carter.
Based on theJohn Carter of Marsnovels byEdgar Rice Burroughs, theJohn Cartermovie was shaping up to be truly epic.Andrew Stanton, the mastermind behind Pixar hitsFinding NemoandWALL-E, was making his live-action debut with the film.Michael Chabon, an accomplished novelist who helped contribute to theSpider-Man 2screenplay, co-wrote the script. The cast was talented, includingBryan Cranston,Willem Dafoe, andMark Strongamong them. However,John Carterran into a number of roadblocks that led to itbeingone of the biggest box office bombsin history— yet it’s far from a horrible movie.
In an oral historyconducted byTheWrap, Stanton admitted that casting John Carter himself was a tough process, especially since the list of potential candidates was apparently a very long one.Taylor Kitschwould land the role, but Tom Cruise was determined to get it first. Stantonhad his mind set on casting Kitsch, though:
“I had Taylor already in mind by the time Tom made his interest known. Tom had a long history with the material, so it wasn’t too surprising to discover he still had interest in it. He was a consummate professional in his discussions with me about the role, and beyond respectful to the fact I was already on an audition path with Taylor,” he said.
This wasn’t the first time Cruise had been attached to a John Carter film. Back in 1990,Disney was flirting with the idea of adapting the materialwith Cruise as Carter andJulia Robertsas the Princess of Mars, Deja Thoris. The team behind the scenes was just as impressive:John McTiernanwas approached to direct following the success ofPredatorandDie Hard, withBack to the FuturescreenwriterBob Galetapped to flesh out the script. Things stalled out when McTiernan decided to directLast Action Hero(which ironically turned out to be another box office bomb), but it’s not surprising that Cruise wanted to join Stanton’s version.
‘John Carter’ Is a Good Movie That Was Let Down by Its Marketing
Looking back atJohn Carter,it’s a film that was ahead of its time.Most of the political intrigue and worldbuilding rivals anything displayed inDuneorGame of Thrones, and Stanton’s work with Pixar makes many of the computer-generated characters — including Dafoe’s Tars Tarkas, leader of the Green Martians — feel like actual flesh and blood. Stanton and Chabon also manage to distill the essence ofA Princess of Marsinto an action-packed adventure that also has a fair amount of humor and heart. So what exactly led to its box office misfortunes?
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Even the iconic House of Mouse has seen some theatrical releases go splat.
The answer lies in the marketing campaign which saw Stantonmaking a number of baffling choices. He chose not to advertise his work with Pixar in the trailers, when that could have drawn newcomers to the theater. Instead of going withA Princess of Marsas the title, the choice was made to simply call the filmJohn Carter, without considering that some audience members might not know about the books. The cherry on top was the fact that Disney’s marketing team at the time was led by someone who hadnoexperience in movies, and therefore didn’t really know how to sell the film. “This is one of the worst marketing campaigns in the history of movies,”a Disney exec toldVulture. “It’s almost as if they went out of their way tonotmake us care.”
The Failure of ‘John Carter’ Marked a Turning Point for Disney
John Cartermight have been yet another example ofDisney fumbling a potential sci-fi franchise, but it would also marka turning point for Disney.A few months afterJohn Carter’s failure,The Avengerswould take the box office by storm and Disney would also acquire Lucasfilm. With the Marvel Cinematic Universe proving to be a moneymaker and the Star Wars franchise under its belt, Disney would slowly rely on those two properties for sci-fi stories.
John Carteris a simple case of execution failing to meet intent. While Andrew Stanton intended to deliver a cosmic epic that matched Edgar Rice Burroughs' books, he didn’t take marketing into account. But the film’s reappraisal in later years proves that it had the glimmers of something special — and it didn’t need Tom Cruise to pull it off.
John Carteris available to watch on Disney+ in the U.S.
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John Carter
