Welcome to Biting-Edge, a blog shared by authors and vampire experts, Mario Acevedo and Jeanne Stein. We’ll cover urban fantasy, vampires, pop culture, and all things Joss Whedon. Unlike other fantasy blogs, we don’t insist on body cavity searches (unless you ask politely). Snarkiness is most welcome...though we won't promise not to bite back!

Sunday, March 25, 2012
  Team Mickey Mouse screws the pooch
Mario here and I'm crying in my beer.



But first:

I had the pleasure of escorting mystery writer Hilary Davidson last Friday during her visit to Denver for a signing at the Tattered Cover Bookstore on Colfax. A former travel writer, Davidson geeked out with her laptop when talking about touring Machu Piccho, the setting for her latest mystery, The Next One to Fall. She won both the Anthony and Crimespree Awards for Best First Novel for The Damage Done. I've just started that book and it's the kind of juicy meaty read I haven't enjoyed in along time.





And now, our feature presentation.

The movie John Carter tanked, and I'm heartbroken. The movie was a hundred years in the making and a big-budget adaptation of the grand daddy of all epic science-fiction fantasy adventures...and it became the biggest turkey ever hatched by Hollywood.

So what happened?

To begin, John Carter wasn't a bad movie, in fact, it was a pretty good flick and not deserving the scorn heaped on it. The problem was poor marketing.

It's a sad case of schadenfreude. Us writers are always getting hammered with Promotions! Marketing! Branding! Building a platform! and it's enlightening (and in this case, also disheartening) to see the big pros stumble into disaster.

Years ago, Disney presented a workshop at the University of Denver on branding and marketing. After all, who knows better than the Magic Kingdom about pushing product and plucking dollars out of customers' hands? So it was amusing and ironic, that Disney--with $250 million at stake--crashed this movie straight into the iceberg and claimed they didn't see it coming. Worse, Disney said it spent another $100 million on promotion, meaning they crashed at ramming speed.

For director Andrew Stanton, this movie was a dream project as he was eager to see one of his favorite stories finally brought to the big screen. But the problem was that Stanton was too close to the material. In his mind, John Carter was as well known a hero as Batman (Huh?). Stanton fought back against promotions at ComicCon, the Mecca of geekdom, arguing the project didn't need the publicity.

And then there's the title of the film, John Carter. Originally it was John Carter of Mars, but Disney nixed the of Mars, claiming they didn't want to turn off the teenage girl audience with their delicate sensibilities. (The same audience who is no doubt cheering the bloodletting in The Hunger Games.) With no fancy marketing degree, Edgar Rice Burroughs knew better than to title any of his books, simply John Carter. He rightly figured the public would go, Who the hell is John Carter? So he gave his first three books, the source material of the movie, awesome titles like: A Princess of Mars, The Gods of Mars, The Warlord of Mars.

Which those geniuses at Disney ignored.

Didn't help much that the most visible pre-launch press was this knifing by The New Yorker.

Then there was the trailer. I was excited to see the video as it faithfully depicted the creatures and landscape I have so long wanted to see in film. But my kids were ho-hum. John Carter (again, who?) fighting monsters in an arena. They've seen this before. Luke Skywalker against the rancor. Maximus versus tigers in Gladiator. What the trailer lacked was the spectacle of the Martian world and the romantic spark between John Carter and the princess (the hottie) Dejah Thoris. This fan trailer is closer to the mark of what should've been presented.



Now for a hundred million smackers, I would expect plugs for the movie to become as ubiquitous as credit card spam. But no. Other than occasional links for the trailer, there wasn't much. The movie posters were dismally bland. Disney should sic goons to shake down the marketing execs and get their money back. This last year I attended several sci-fi/fantasy cons and never once saw any John Carter swag.


Disney needed to cultivate the John Carter message beyond the small circle of ardent fans (like me) and they had the resources, but not the brains, to do so much cool promotion. A major push at ComicCon with full-size props of the tharks and thoats.





A model of a Barsoomian flyer hanging from the ceiling.


Buff actors dressed as the characters. Since the movie was set in the late 1880's, the Victorian period, the stage design drew upon an elaborate Art Nouveau aesthetic that would've played well with the Steampunk community. Disney could've dispatched teams to all manner of cons to whip up excitement.

Imagine the killer buzz had they let Steampunkers take photos on this flyer prop? It's bronze for Christ's sake!






Actress Lynn Carter (Dejah Thoris) had an exceptionally toned, beautiful body, and she should've been pimped to Maxim, Esquire, etc., and the fitness magazines.
So even the experts fall hard. In this case, it was a great story that suffered.

Labels: , , ,

 
Comments:
Mario,

Great analysis of the breakdown of the marketing department. It is really stunning that Disney misfired so badly on this shoulda-been-easy movie.

And I just want to know where Hollywood got the idea that they should keep any mention of sci-fi-ness out of movie marketing so as not to scare the women. WTH? Anywhere from 25 to 60 percent of sci fi readers and viewers and fans are women, depending on the franchise. I didn't read the Burroughs novels as a kid and so had no idea who John Carter was. John Carter of Mars would have made me much more interested in seeing the movie.

Also, even though you call the New Yorker article a knifing, I thought it was fascinating to read about Andrew Stanton's process. He's a great storyteller despite the misses on this film.

Thanks,
Devlin
 
Never heard of John Carter. Never heard of the movie.

But, I just watched the trailer and I'll be looking for this somewhere.

Thanks!
 
Chris: Thanks for the comments. Disney really laid an egg with this movie.
Peg: If you watch the movie, I've done my job. Hope you like it.
 
Thanks for taking the time to discuss this. I feel strongly about it and love learning more on this topic. If possible, as you gain expertise, would you mind updating your blog with more information? It is extremely helpful for me. Thanks!
 
Post a Comment



<< Home
www.marioacevedo.com
jeanniestein.com

Biting Edge - Blogged


Marta Acosta
Vampiress.ca
Zombie Defense Tactics
L.A. Banks
Robin Brande
Douglas Clegg
Mary Janice Davidson
Midnight Moon Cafe
P.N. Elrod
Christine Feehan
Andrew Fox
Jasper Fforde
Neil Gaiman
Laurell K. Hamilton
Charlaine Harris
Charlie Huston
Sherrilyn Kenyon
The Midnight Hour
First Offenders
Christopher Moore
Susan Squires
Storytellers Unplugged
Carrie Vaughn
Lynn Viehl
Chelsea Quinn Yarbro


Agent Query
AOL Bookmaven
Bookmouth
Bookseller Chick
Bronze Word
GalleyCat
Guide to Literary Agents
Grumpy Old Bookman
Marcela Landres
Miss Snark
The Neglected Books Page
Preditors and Editors
Pub Rants
Publishers Lunch
Slushpile
Latino Stories


Alt Vampires
Love Vampires Reviews
Bite Me Magazine
Borderlands Bookstore
Dark Carnival Bookstore
Dark Hunter
Horror Writers Assoc.
Kaleighbug Books
Locus Magazine
Mysterious Galaxy Bookstore
Paranormal Fiction
Paranormality Universe
Realm of the Vampires
Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers Net
Undead Update
Vampire Genre
Vampire HQ
The Vampire Library
Vampires Vault
Vampress
Vamprowler
Vampyres Online



ARCHIVES
March 2006 / April 2006 / May 2006 / June 2006 / July 2006 / August 2006 / September 2006 / October 2006 / November 2006 / December 2006 / January 2007 / February 2007 / March 2007 / April 2007 / May 2007 / June 2007 / July 2007 / August 2007 / September 2007 / October 2007 / November 2007 / December 2007 / January 2008 / February 2008 / March 2008 / April 2008 / May 2008 / June 2008 / July 2008 / August 2008 / September 2008 / October 2008 / November 2008 / December 2008 / January 2009 / February 2009 / March 2009 / April 2009 / May 2009 / June 2009 / July 2009 / August 2009 / September 2009 / October 2009 / November 2009 / December 2009 / January 2010 / February 2010 / March 2010 / April 2010 / May 2010 / June 2010 / July 2010 / August 2010 / September 2010 / October 2010 / November 2010 / December 2010 / January 2011 / February 2011 / March 2011 / April 2011 / May 2011 / June 2011 / July 2011 / August 2011 / September 2011 / October 2011 / November 2011 / December 2011 / January 2012 / February 2012 / March 2012 / April 2012 / May 2012 / June 2012 / July 2012 / August 2012 / September 2012 / October 2012 / November 2012 / December 2012 / January 2013 / February 2013 / March 2013 / April 2013 / May 2013 / June 2013 / July 2013 /


Powered by Blogger