Disney’s big budget fantasy film John Carter earned a disappointing $70 million in its opening weekend. Even with an overseas profit of $70 million, that tally barely approaches the film’s $250 million budget, and commentators are suggesting that Disney may have to take a “write off” on the sci-fi epic.
Yet a glance at casual moviegoer comments and internet reviews seems to present a decidedly positive reaction to the film. Overall, people liked it.
So what happened?
A large part of John Carter’s lackluster opening weekend performance arose from a marketing campaign that seemed unable to reach the movie’s target audience. Instead of highlighting the film’s characters, plot, or themes, previews struck a decidedly frenetic tone, focusing primarily on a scantily clad main character…fighting. The previews failed to reach the crowd who flock to Zack Snyder’s films because they didn’t demonstrate the visceral, beautifully filmed violence that appeals to that audience. The previews failed to reach families, Disney’s core audience, because they seemed to depict a far more “adult” action film. The previews failed to reach the audience who made Disney’s Tron so successful because they didn’t sell a sci-fi story or tap into something already established in culture. The previews, in short, missed every target audience.
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