The Super Bowl is less than a week away, which means we’re that much closer to a whole lotta football movie trailers. Studios will be taking advantage of the most watched television event of the year by showcasing a bevy of their upcoming releases. Sometimes these TV spots can be used to pique interest in material that general audiences were previously skeptical about (I remember Iron Man rocking everyone’s world a few years back). Disney is no doubt hoping to do the same with John Carter. The big-budget sci-fi adaptation is an incredibly tough sell, and it’ll be interesting to see how the film’s Super Bowl spot goes over. I’m a huge fan of director Andrew Stanton (Wall-E) so I’m really hoping the film delivers, but I’m not entirely sure moviegoers will be rushing to theaters once the film opens.
Nevertheless, Disney has released a snippet of the Super Bowl spot online for your viewing pleasure. It’s incredibly short, but that’s to be expected from a trailer for a 30-second commercial. Hit the jump to check it out. The film stars Taylor Kitsch, Willem Dafoe, Lynn Collins, and Mark Strong. John Carter opens in 3D March 9th.
Here’s the official synopsis for John Carter:
From Academy Award(R)-winning filmmaker Andrew Stanton comes “John Carter”–a sweeping action-adventure set on the mysterious and exotic planet of Barsoom (Mars). “John Carter” is based on a classic novel by Edgar Rice Burroughs, whose highly imaginative adventures served as inspiration for many filmmakers, both past and present. The film tells the story of war-weary, former military captain John Carter (Taylor Kitsch), who is inexplicably transported to Mars where he becomes reluctantly embroiled in a conflict of epic proportions amongst the inhabitants of the planet, including Tars Tarkas (Willem Dafoe) and the captivating Princess Dejah Thoris (Lynn Collins). In a world on the brink of collapse, Carter rediscovers his humanity when he realizes that the survival of Barsoom and its people rests in his hands.
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I think this movie is going to be one of the worst bombs this year because Disney doesn’t know how to market it. I think this has been one of the worst marketing jobs for a film I have seen in awhile.
not trying to be negative or a hater, I hope the movie is really good and a is a big hit, I just think people aren’t going to see it.
I agree with above comment! The marketing is weak, though this movie looks awesome! Popcorn fantasy fun. Looking forward to seeing it on the big screen.
They should not have trimmed the MARS from the title, and what a boring font.
Come on Disney, sell it to me!!! (actually i,m sold, but others may not be)
I don’t think it’s hating at all. I loved the book and think the film looks great, but they have done a shameful job promoting it. Imagine a Star Wars: A New Hope/ Indian Jones style poster for a movie called A Princess of Mars. It would be much more evocative than what they’ve done. It’s just sexist to think it would turn people off and it’s about the same logic as people who wanted The Two Towers title changed because of 9/11.
Yeah, movies like this should come out in the summer. It has a better chance at surviving and they need to really show more trailers cuz I started reading the book and it is really interesting.
I want to see Mark Strong and some other characters involved in this movie other than see John and the Martians all the time including the girl too.
Need to see more stuff Disney and Andrew. Avoid the whole mystery of the movie because it is not just cutting it anymore. Moviegoers want to see more action less talking to convince them.
This generation is full of nitwits who dont go for the mystery or the suspense of a movie anymore. Action, Action, Action!
Nuff said!
Release this movie in the summer. It has a better chance at getting real money and you need to show us more stuff. Hence new longer trailers in order to prove to us this is worth seeing Andrew.
I just hope the movie rocks.
I know that personally I would have liked a marketing campaign that harkened back to adventure and sci-fi movies where the was intricate artistry and detail in the titles and the promotions that suggested a deeper background and foundation for the stories. The flat, modern font is confusing to my sensibilities, especially knowing the story from reading the book. However, I’m getting older and I’m not the one that marketing is fighting to bring in. I’m already there as long as the reviews aren’t awful.
Maybe this marketing will work to bring in the larger audience, I don’t really know. I do feel like the marketing is missing a good hook though. WHY does everyone have to see this? That’s what is missing from the marketing in my view.
The makers of the film give me a bunch of confidence. If Andrew Stanton’s reputation pans out, there will be a heart in this and there won’t be compromise when it comes to the performance of the digitally rendered characters. In other words, I’ll care about what happens during all those big action scenes which will cover any marketing flubs or other issues.
I still have hope for this one.
They’ll have to diverge from the book quite a bit to make it work. It’s an incredibly simplistic story even by today’s young adult standards. John Carter learns ESP to talk to the Aliens in about 2 sentences, and is so reckless he comes across as laughably suicidal most of the time.
That’s supposed to make you go see that? I still don’t get why they took Mars off the marketing. Mars need moms was such a huge flop that the idiots were like ummm I think people aren’t into Mars anymore lets play down the Mars aspect.
To the people complaining about bad marketing, let’s be realistic folks, most of us posting here are familiar with the source material and are most likely fans. I don’t envy the people trying to market this.
The material has been strip mined since the mid 70′s and is not going to come off as original to the the average movie goer. Like it or not, 99% of the people buying movie tickets have no clue who John Carter of Mars even is, so Disney has the tough job of trying to sell this movie to the McDonalds and Burger King crowd. Hate to tell you this, but that’s the majority of the movie going public. They are avoiding the “Mars” title hoping to tweak interest in the masses who associate “Mars” with movies that sucked.
I’m not familiar with the source at all, and I certainly agree this marketing is terrible. So far there’s a bloke walking around a dusty planet with a race of characterless aliens. He can jump really high, and somehow there’s another human girl there who seems surprised that he’s from Earth?
I’ve also seen a disproportionate amount of footage from an arena sequence which invokes Attack of the Clones (not a great association…). I’ve read that it’s about a civil war, but that hasn’t been set up in a trailer. I think they must be hoping that Avatar is still in vogue… but as far as I’m concerned it is not.
The bad marketing thing is overblown Disney ran a great marketing campaign for The Muppets and it still underperformed in the US. 3 different movies have moved there release date from March 9th so obviously the other studio’s think John Carter has a shot at being big.
Lynn Collins is HOT, enough eye candy to watch this movie on a matinee price
I don’t get how anyone can like this film so far, and I say that from the point of view of somebody who really wanted to!
The music choice and scene selections so far are cliche, the dialogues and acting cringe worthy, the CGI just doesn’t make me believe it and there’re not a single original thing about either the visuals nor the plot (as far as it’s possible to tell at this point).
Makes me sad, actually.