Should There Be A John Carter Sequel?

Disney seemed to have put everything on the table for John Carter before it was released in March of this year, but no one thought that the grand spectacle would crash at the box office like it did.  Over time though, the movie seems to have developed a fan base that grows with every passing month.  John Carter seemed poised to drift away into the shadows, never to be viewed as a classic amongst the wide array of notable titles.  Now, after looking over how the movie has progressed on dvd and blu-ray, we see that the movie is now finding traction and has developed into something that most filmmakers dream of, a cult classic.  When John Carter was released on dvd and blu-ray it was the highest grossing film of the week, according  Nielson ratings, and it was top 5 on the On Demand list for three weeks in a row. 

Worldwide John Carter has grossed $282,000,000, according to boxofficemojo.com, a $32,000,000 profit.  Of course adding another $50,000,000 to $100,000,000 for what went into advertising, John Carter is still vastly behind on making its money back.  All this changed though after being released and made available for us to take home.  Carter should now be in the red, with profits finally pouring into Disney, of course its not as much as they were hoping for. 

Looking at the movie itself and its storytelling, we see that a lot of care and work went into the film.  John Carter though, seemed to have gotten a bad rap from the start, showing previews that never showed the full potential of the film.  Even the title has received a lot of negativity, due to the fact that its just a mans name and nothing more.  A lot of people judge a book by its cover, some people judge on the title alone.  The poster left a lot to the imagination leaving us wondering what the movie was truly about.  All in all the advertising for the film was horrific, and never really did anything for the story.  On the other hand, the advertising for the dvd and blu-ray release was another story.  The previews showed an event film that most missed in theaters.  The cover to the dvd and blu-ray's being sold was a better poster than the one seen in theaters.  Take a look at the cover and poster comparison below and tell me which movie you'd rather see?

The problem with John Carter isn't the story, actors, or even the filmmakers.  The two biggest problems was, the advertising, which I've already mentions, and the budget.  The budget was a massive $250,000,000 dollars.  John Carter wasn't ready for such a massive budget when trying to develop a new franchise for the public.  A fan base wasn't even created for the film yet.  The only audience this movie had were people who were fans of the books, which wasn't that big of a fan base when a movie is concerned.  If the movie was to be released with the fan base it has now, there is no question that a sequel would have been green lit by now. 

This is what I propose to Disney and how they should go about making everyone happy.  The word is out that John Carter is a decent film now.  Go ahead and make a sequel, but with a lower budget. Every epic film doesn't have to cost  a whopping $200,000,000 or more to make.  The fans just want a story told with the characters they fell in love with.  The cast and crew have even reached out to the fans with wanting to make a sequel.  Fans have banned together to sign a petition to get a sequel made, which you can find at: backtobarsoom.com.  There is now a fan base that will make a sequel profitable for Disney.  Take a chance on the public's views and maybe they might surprise you Disney.