John Carter of Mars - $250 million Turkey?

[Svartalf]

Which is why disney needs to be nuked out of existence.

That they did nameless horrors in the past was enough justification, but that they do films callously knowing they'll make a pig's ear of it because their MO simply isn't compatible with doing a proper job of it is, if anything, even worse than what they've done to the classics.

What's worse, with their fucking mickey laws, they've had the duration of copyright extended, so that, even though ER Burroughs died 62 years ago, the thing still is under rights, meaning that they've hogged that set of works and are preventing anybody else from doing a good job.

[Coito ergo sum]

If some basic visuals, like the costumes described by Burroughs, aren't respected, how is it about the Barsoom described in the books?

Reality check. Nekid women all over the place would not be a Disneyesque thing, nor would it be PG-13, the money slot for movies.

As long as they kept the jewelry strategically placed over a few square inches here and there, it should have been able to make it to PG-13.

And, you have put your finger on a main objection to the stultifying ratings system... "The establishment of a rating system, voluntary or otherwise, opens the door to an endless parade of Moral Quality Control Programs based on “Things Certain Christians Don’t Like”" - F. Zappa.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

If some basic visuals, like the costumes described by Burroughs, aren't respected, how is it about the Barsoom described in the books?

Reality check. Nekid women all over the place would not be a Disneyesque thing, nor would it be PG-13, the money slot for movies.

As long as they kept the jewelry strategically placed over a few square inches here and there, it should have been able to make it to PG-13.

Yep, then we just have a degree less of clothing, so what's the point?

And, you have put your finger on a main objection to the stultifying ratings system... "The establishment of a rating system, voluntary or otherwise, opens the door to an endless parade of Moral Quality Control Programs based on “Things Certain Christians Don’t Like”" - F. Zappa.

Better than having the Hayes Committee.

[Coito ergo sum]

If some basic visuals, like the costumes described by Burroughs, aren't respected, how is it about the Barsoom described in the books?

Reality check. Nekid women all over the place would not be a Disneyesque thing, nor would it be PG-13, the money slot for movies.

As long as they kept the jewelry strategically placed over a few square inches here and there, it should have been able to make it to PG-13.

Yep, then we just have a degree less of clothing, so what's the point?

In the book, A Princess of Mars, Burroughs describes the jewelry as strategically placed...

And, you have put your finger on a main objection to the stultifying ratings system... "The establishment of a rating system, voluntary or otherwise, opens the door to an endless parade of Moral Quality Control Programs based on “Things Certain Christians Don’t Like”" - F. Zappa.

Better than having the Hayes Committee.

Yes, but "less suck" is still "suck."

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Yep, and that's why I didn't go to the movie expecting a page-per-page congruence. I went for the cool images. That's what movies are for.

[Coito ergo sum]

Yep, and that's why I didn't go to the movie expecting a page-per-page congruence. I went for the cool images. That's what movies are for.

Again, I wasn't talking about page per page congruence. I am referring to sticking true to the basic characters. I mean, at least stick to the basic story and portray the characters with some respect to the original work.

What convinced me that something was wrong with the movie was when they titled it "John Carter" instead of having any reference to Mars in it. They were worried that if it seemed too "science fictionish" they would scare away potential viewers. LOL. Like - we better trick them into thinking it's not science fiction, so we don't lose a few extra viewers - we're going to need every one we can get!

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Yep, and that's why I didn't go to the movie expecting a page-per-page congruence. I went for the cool images. That's what movies are for.

Again, I wasn't talking about page per page congruence. I am referring to sticking true to the basic characters. I mean, at least stick to the basic story and portray the characters with some respect to the original work.

Refer back to my sliding scale.

[Svartalf]

Well, even jackson did manage to wander quite too far from the 0 deviation point, and that disney PoS deserved to tank, too bad the outfit is so rich that the loss won't be felt.

[Coito ergo sum]

Yep, and that's why I didn't go to the movie expecting a page-per-page congruence. I went for the cool images. That's what movies are for.

Again, I wasn't talking about page per page congruence. I am referring to sticking true to the basic characters. I mean, at least stick to the basic story and portray the characters with some respect to the original work.

Refer back to my sliding scale.

Obviously, everything is a matter of opinion. In my view, if a book is to be made into a movie, especially one that is sort of a built-in cult classic (as there are aficionados of the Mars books, just like there were aficionados of LOTR), in order for the movie to have any hope of being good, there must be a degree of faithfulness to the essence of the storyline and the characterization. LOTR was a good example of a success story. John Carter was not. IMHO.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

LOTR was a good example of a success story. John Carter was not. IMHO.

Yep, and LOTR was "current" while JCoM was largely forgotten.

[Coito ergo sum]

I think the books are still in print, which means people are still buying them. However, over and above whether they were forgotten or not, I find that the author of a popular book wrote a story and developed characters people enjoyed. There doesn't seem to be much reason to change that in an adaptation to the screen. If they want to make a new story with new characters, why bother with the adaptation at all?

[Feck]

Hollywood should stick to what it knows best ,making frame by frame carbon copies of already successful films or DC /Marvel comic stuff .

[Gawdzilla Sama]

I think the books are still in print, which means people are still buying them. However, over and above whether they were forgotten or not, I find that the author of a popular book wrote a story and developed characters people enjoyed. There doesn't seem to be much reason to change that in an adaptation to the screen. If they want to make a new story with new characters, why bother with the adaptation at all?

To make money, of course.

[Svartalf]

I think the books are still in print, which means people are still buying them. However, over and above whether they were forgotten or not, I find that the author of a popular book wrote a story and developed characters people enjoyed. There doesn't seem to be much reason to change that in an adaptation to the screen. If they want to make a new story with new characters, why bother with the adaptation at all?

mmmh... you'd be surprised how much stuff stays in print once it's mostly amortized and has reached a status as a minor classic. Once they have recouped their costs and are sure the stuff will go on selling some, publishers are willing to keep some stuff alive long after its niche has become pretty small.

If only because the publisher gets to insert a few pages of "if you liked this, try these other products we purvey" to tout more current books.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Print-on-demand is making that more and more the case, I think.