Mars movies typically spell disaster for Hollywood studios, as Disney chairman Rich Ross (above) has learned the hard way.
Walt Disney Studios Chairman Rich Ross last week "stepped down" from his long-held position at the house of mouse, stating in a letter to his staff: "I no longer believe the Chairman role is the right professional fit for me."
"But make no mistake about it," writes Deadline, "Ross did not simply decide to step down – he was fired... His ouster now ends his 15+ year Disney career which included one of the most public and worst film failures in Hollywood — John Carter, a $200M writedown for the Walt Disney Co."
Deadline notes that, "even though the film wasn’t greenlit by Ross (it was greenlit by predecessor Dick Cook and championed by John Lasseter), it was still overseen by him and mismarketed by his studio — and became one of the most public and expensive film failures in Hollywood history."
For more on this story, head on over to Deadline. And for a comprehensive overview of Hollywood's many failed Mars missions, read my article: Hollywood and the Curse of Mars.
On location: John Carter director, Andrew Stanton, and star, Taylor Kitsch
Disney has admitted that its epic Mars-based sci-fi adventure John Carter is set to lose the studio more than $200 million at the box-office. The movie, which cost at least $250 million to make (some say $300 million), opened two weekends ago to a disappointing $30 million and has yet to recoup its budget.
In a statement earlier this week, Disney acknowledged that it expects John Carter “to generate an operating loss of approximately $200m” by the end of March.
Pondering the box-office failure of John Carter, Ben Child of The Guardianwrites:
“Critics have suggested that John Carter’s failure to connect with audiences may have been due to confusing marketing as well as lukewarm reviews. Disney chose not to run with the “of Mars” suffix in the wake of traditionally poor box-office results for films that focus on the planet, and trailers also largely ignored the movie's central romance, something Hollywood tends to see as a surefire method of attracting female filmgoers.”
Followers of Silver Screen Saucers, however – and, indeed, anyone familiar with sci-fi movie history – will know that John Carter’s box-office belly-flop was not the result of poor marketing or lukewarm reviews (in fact, Disney marketed the hell out of it, and a number of high-profile critics loved the movie), but something entirely beyond the control of all Hollywood creatives, something ominous and unforgiving: The Martian Curse!
I, for one, am puzzled by the public’s historical aversion to Hollywood’s Mars movies. What is it about The Red Planet that turns us off at the box-office? Your thoughts are welcome...
EmpireOnline has just posted a new feature providing cinemagoers with a pictorial overview of the civilizations and beasties of Mars as featured in Disney’s John Carter - go take a look!
A selection of early critics’ reviews for Disney’s Mars-based adventure John Carter is now viewable over at RottenTomatoes.com.
At the time of writing, the movie scores a not-too-shabby 77% on the Tomatometer. That percentage is likely to alter as more reviews pour in. However, if John Carter’s box-office performance is in any way reflective of its early critical reception, then Disney may have succeeded in lifting Hollywood’s dreaded Martian Curse! We’ll know for sure when the movie is released on March 9.
Here’s a snapshot of ‘JC’s’ critical reception:
“A fun story, impressive alien world, and cool 3D effects make John Carter a surprise treat that may not have been on your radar.”
“A handsome new sci-fi adventure that feels rather familiar. Enjoyable enough while it lasts, John Carter is big on ambition and disappointingly short on action.”
“Stanton has built a fantastic world, but the action is unmemorable. Still, just about every sci-fi/fantasy/superhero adventure you ever loved is in here somewhere.”
“Arid, barren Barsoom is a dull environment for a sci-fi blockbuster, and the consequences of the conflicts happening on screen are small. John Carter just never pulled me in."
Head on over to RottenTomatoes.com for the rest. Reports on John Carter’s box-office performance will be posted here at Silver Screen Saucersin the coming days.
Mythology Entertainment has acquired feature rights to Richard Morgan's sci-fi novel Altered Carbon, according to Variety.
Laeta Kalogridis (Avatar) will adapt the novel in collaboration with David Goodman (The Event). The book is described as follows:
“Four hundred years from now mankind is strung out across a region of interstellar space inherited from an ancient civilization discovered on Mars. The colonies are linked together by the occasional sublight colony ship voyages and hyperspatial data-casting. Human consciousness is digitally freighted between the stars and downloaded into bodies as a matter of course.
But some things never change. So when ex-envoy, now-convict Takeshi Kovacs has his consciousness and skills downloaded into the body of a nicotine-addicted ex-thug and presented with a catch-22 offer, he really shouldnt be surprised. Contracted by a billionaire to discover who murdered his last body, Kovacs is drawn into a terrifying conspiracy that stretches across known space and to the very top of society.” Darkover
The planet Darkover and its moons
ComingSoon.net reports that producers Ilene Kahn Power and Elizabeth Stanley have secured the rights to Marion Zimmer Bradley's acclaimed Darkover novels and are currently developing a “multi-platform television series” around the saga.
According to Stanley, "Bradley's Darkover novels and short stories chronicle the development of a remarkable civilization – technology poor but rich in its ability to harness the psi powers of the human brain (such as telepathy and telekinesis)."
In the novels, Darkover is the only habitable of seven planets orbiting a fictional red giant star called Cottman. When humans arrive on the ancient planet they find it is already home to a variety of sentient life forms. Among these are the Chieri – a race of tall, six-fingered, long-haired, telepathic beings with life-spans of tens of thousands of years. Transformers 4
Transformers producer Lorenzo Di Bonaventura has told MTV that Paramount has secured Michael Bay to direct at least one more film for the franchise.
Di Bonaventura also revealed that the new film is to be a reboot, following a completely new set of human characters – an assertion seemingly supported by Transformers star Josh Duhamel, who told E! Online, "I don't think anybody's doing it. I know Shia [LaBoeuf]'s not doing it. I don't think Tyrese or Rosie[Huntington-Whiteley] or anybody else is doing it,” adding, “I haven't heard anything about it. They haven't called me."
Transformers 4 is set for release on June 27, 2014.
Oblivion
The graphic novel Oblivion is being adapted for the big screen
Deadline reports that Morgan Freeman has joined cast of Oblivion (which until now has gone by the title of Horizons). He'll be joining Tom Cruise, Andrea Riseborough and Olga Kurylenko in the Universal pictures release.
Based on the graphic novel of the same name, Oblivion is about “a man [Cruise] who lives in the clouds above Earth and heads to its surface to repair drones that essentially keep the planet safe from an alien race that has all but wiped out humanity.”
Michael Arndt is currently rewriting a script by William Monahan and Karl Gajdusek. The movie is scheduled for a July 19, 2013 release.
John Carter sequel
Though it has not even been released yet, Disney's $300 million Mars-based adventure John Carter may already be spawning a sequel. Speaking with ComingSoon.net, John Carter producer Jim Morris, revealed that the movie’s director Andrew Stanton and his co-writer Michael Chabon are already in discussions to plan and write a sequel, which would tentatively be called John Carter: The Gods of Mars, based on the second of Edgar Rice Burroughs' Barsoom series of novels.
Whether or not Disney will green-light the sequel, though, is entirely dependent on the success of the first movie, which hits cinemas March 9.
On the subject of John Carter, here’s a new video promo for the movie, followed by new clip...
The Europa Report
The marketing campaign for upcoming sci-fi movie The Europa Report – in which astronauts seek out life on Jupiter’s frigid moon of Europa – has gone viral.
Check out the website for faux aerospace corporation Europa Ventures, where you’ll find a ‘live’ video feed showing astronauts onboard the spacecraft Europa 1. The site’s intro text reads:
“For decades, scientists have theorized the existence of liquid water oceans on Jupiter's moon, Europa. We've recently discovered new, captivating evidence that these sub-surface oceans do exist and could support life.
We've sent six astronauts from space programs throughout the world on a three year journey to Europa to explore its oceans and confirm these findings.
We're proud to be at the forefront of the effort to prove the existence of extra-terrestrial life within our solar system, within our lifetimes.”
Last weekend’s Super Bowl played out against a backdrop of aliens and apocalypse with TV spots and trailers for Hollywood movies and even car commercials tapping into the ET/2012 vibe. With 111.3 million US viewers, it was the most-watched broadcast in the history of United States television.
Here’s what viewers were bashed over the head with during their commercial breaks...
New Battleship trailer...
The Avengers - new trailer...
Transformers: The Ride - 3-D...
Chevy Volt alien commercial...
Chevy Volt 2012 commercial...
New John Carter trailer...
More John Carter
On the subject of John Carter, even more new footage from the movie was featured recently in a Disney Channel featurette, and yet more new John Carter stills have also been released...
Prometheus
A new image from Ridley Scott's upcoming Alien prequel Prometheus...
Vampires and zombies vs. aliens
Finally, Sony Pictures has hired Robbie Pickering to direct Oren Uziel’s The Kitchen Sink, which Deadline.com describes as a “genre collision about the unlikely alliance between a high school-aged vampire, zombie and human as they try to save their town from invading aliens.” More information about this movie will be posted here at Silver Screen Saucers as it becomes available.
New concept art for Disney's John Carter (these images are by Ryan Church, Michael Kutshe, David Krenz, and Mayes C. Rubeo).
These images date from 2009, back when John Carter went by its original title of John Carter of Mars. One wonders if Disney's decision to drop the "of Mars" had anything to do with Hollywood's Martian Curse, the wretched power of which has for decades kept audiences well away from Mars-themed movies. Certainly Disney will still be smarting from the epic failure that was Mars Needs Moms (2011). Pandora Needs Moms may have fared better (there's your fourth Avatar instalment right there, James Cameron!).
For more John Carter concept art, head on over to ItsArtMag.com.
Veteran producer Gale Anne Hurd has optioned Annie Jacobsen’s controversial book Area 51: An Uncensored History of America's Top Secret Military Base for a potential TV series. According to Deadline the series “will follow two men working on the base who are thrust into danger when they uncover secrets that the government will protect at any cost.” Annie Jacobsen will work on the project as a consulting producer.
In other news, new images of Ridley Scott’s hotly anticipated Alien prequel Prometheushave emerged through Entertainment Weekly. One of the stars of the movie, Michael Fassbender, seemed to confirm to EW that the aliens featured in the existing franchise will indeed appear in Prometheus: “There’s definitely a link to Alien,”he said, “There’s creatures in it that you’ll recognize.”
Finally, and again through Entertainment Weekly, Disney has released a new image from its forthcoming Mars-based epic John Carter, which shows the eponymous hero doing battle with one of the great White Apes of Edgar Rice Burroughs’ classic source material.
Disney's forthcoming Mars-based epic John Carter has been well received by test audiences according to the film's director, Andrew Stanton. In a recent interview with The New Yorker, Stanton (who directed Pixar hits Finding Nemo and Wall-E) said that a two-hour cut of John Carter was screened in July for an audience in Portland, Oregon, with 75% of attendees scoring the movie either "excellent" or "very good", despite it being largely unfinished and distinctly lacking in post-production polish.
It has not all been plain sailing for Stanton, however. When the director screened a nearly-three-hour rough cut of John Carter for his Pixar colleagues last December the reception was far from enthusiastic. The opening scenes in particular were said to be "rather drab" and the movie as a whole lacked the "personal touch" seen in Stanton's previous movies. As a result, back in April, Disney agreed to fund 18 days of reshoots. The director didn't take it personally, though. “Reshoots should be mandatory," he said, "some of the Pixarness we’re trying to spread at Disney is ‘It’s O.K. to not know, to be wrong, to screw up and rely on each other.’ Art is messy, art is chaos—so you need a system.”
Stanton says the movie's new opening will "launch viewers immediately into a battle [on Mars] between Zodangans and Therns, before cutting to Earth where we first meet John Carter."
John Carter is due for release in March, 2012, and, with a budget approaching $300 million, it will need to do some serious business at the box-office if it is to become the franchise that Disney hopes for.
Walt Disney's forthcoming sci-fi/fantasy John Carter will follow the adventures of a 19th Century American Civil War veteran who is mysteriously transported to Mars, which he discovers to be a thriving and diverse planet populated by 9 ft tall, green, four-armed warriors called Tharks, as well as more human-looking "red" Martians.
According to Empire, "The film combines location shooting, studio sets, live action and digital creations in one of the more complicated productions you’ll ever see."
John Carter is due for release in March 2012. View the trailer here:
