For the Record – John Carter Opened With $100 Million
As this weekend winds down we are finally beginning to see grudging concessions from American news Websites that YES! Disney’s “John Carter” earned $100 million at the box office this weekend. Those media reviewers and reporters who have painted themselves into the corner with declarations of the failure of “John Carter” have been shouted down by audiences around the world.
When the final numbers come out there will be no doubt that “The Lorax”, in its second week, outperformed “John Carter” in US ticket sales. Unfortunately for Universal Studios, who cleverly embedded Lorax-themed advertising in theaters across the country weeks in advance of “John Carter”, their boy isn’t being shown in theaters overseas. Almost all of the estimated $123 million in box office receipts for “The Lorax” are coming from the US market.
Meanwhile, “John Carter” has broken or nearly set box office records in some important foreign markets, and it did not open in every nation. As only Forbes had the courage to note, audiences around the world LOVE “John Carter”.
Even the majority of US viewers who actually went to see the movie have been very positive and supportive of the movie. Disney CEO Robert Iger should be happy come Monday morning that he doesn’t have start “cutting the fat” right away. He can afford to wait another week to see if Taylor Kitsch fans (mostly women, apparently) continue to flock to the theaters to see their guy in a Barsoomian harness — and maybe they’ll persuade their husbands and boyfriends to put down their joysticks long enough to go see a pretty good movie.
Yes, “John Carter” is a pretty good movie. It’s not necessarily the best movie of the past 10 years, but it’s a GOOD movie. And it deserves better than to be treated like a backwater C-budget independent film by the news media. Admit it Hollywood Reporter, LA Times, and New York Times — you were wrong about “John Carter”.
If the movie has a major flaw it’s in the marketing that failed to materialize until it was almost too late. But I have ranted and raved about that on too many blogs and forum posts. So let me use this blog post to highlight some comments that people have been making on Twitter. I’ll begin with film and TV writer John Rogers, who wrote on his Twitter account:
At this point, I genuinely want every human in the US to go see “John Carter” just to shut up the New York Times.
The NYT declares it a misfire, talking studio politics, without ever addressing whether it’s good or not. And it’s FUCKING GREAT.
Andrew Stanton has absolutely nothing to be ashamed of. I’m first in line for his next movie.
It’s convenient Disney execs say “no finger pointing” when they damn well know where those fingers should point.
Gratified to see so many people actually consider my advice. Go help @andrewstanton punch critics in the neck. Go see JOHN CARTER today.
But the positive comments are coming in from many, many different people. Brittany Parrish wrote: “Had a great night with the bf 🙂 John Carter is a great movie!”
Brittney Jones wrote: “John Carter was a great movie wish the ending could have been a little better #disney”
Khoda & Dallas wrote: “Saw John Carter today with jack and khoda. Great movie. Never get tired of Disney.”
JDâ„¢ wrote: “Aye John Carter was a Disney movie and yeah I thought it was gonna be garbage…turned out to be a great movie.”
Deaudrick Williams wrote: “Anybody wanna see a great movie go and see John Carter!”
Casey Jones wrote: “Finally — a GREAT movie! It’s been a long time since I’ve seen one of those! JOHN CARTER!”
Wesley Fryer, Ph.D. wrote: “New 3D movie “John Carter” definitely worth seeing at the theater-Compelling & imaginative story-great special effects ”
Movies.com wrote: “John Carter Review 4.0 stars out of 5: The first great summer movie of March. The dead-inside Pirates of the spr.ly/6010rBWs”
Jeremy Kirk wrote: “Review is filed, and it’s after midnight, so I can say this with authority: JOHN CARTER is a great, epic, sci-fi adventure. See this movie.”
Michael Giacchino wrote: “Morning all! If your up for an emotional, fun, thrill ride of a movie – JOHN CARTER is your film this weekend! See it and have a great time!”
otilio reyes wrote: “Just watched John Carter. Great movie if you like sci fi!”
Leslie Young wrote: “John Carter was really great! Definitely a fun, action packed, 3-D movie.”
Oscar Cervantes wrote: “Just got home from the movies John Carter is a great movie :D”
Kristin M. Lee wrote: “John Carter is a MUST see. It is a great movie.”
Leilanie Mandujano wrote: “John carter was a great movie!!!!”
Okay, I cannot quote them all. Are there people who say the movie is bad? Sure. And their opinions are just as important as the opinions of the people who loved the movie. The point, however, is that audiences are NOT abandoning “John Carter” to its fate. They are trying to speak out and the news media are NOT paying attention to them.
So, for the record, “John Carter” opened with a $100 million weekend and most of the people who saw the movie LOVED IT. If you haven’t yet seen “John Carter”, don’t let some idiot film reviewer who only loves depressing “art” tell you to walk away. Make up your mind for yourself. But to do that, you need to watch the movie.
And I can guarantee you one thing about “John Carter” — it doesn’t have any product placements.