Director Andrew Stanton’s (he of Finding Nemo and WALL-E) been making the rounds with the cast of John Carter to promote the upcoming March 9th release.* It wouldn’t be a big budget Disney joint if sequels weren’t a possibility, which is why I find Stanton’s quote at a roundtable from a few weeks ago interesting. When asked about upcoming projects:
“Well, I have to have two things – well, one I can’t talk about because it may not go for –but, but it may – I’m very deep in it as an alternative of if we don’t do the sequel to this. So I’ve been working really hard on The Gods of Mars which is the second book and we’re just waiting to see how it does. If it does well enough –”
I’m all for hedging one’s bets, but I get the sense that Disney doesn’t have much faith in John Carter performing. Most directors have a few projects in their pipeline at any given time, and I think Stanton absolutely has a future directing live-action fare. So this could all be much ado about nothing. But this goes a long way in affirming the sense of a lack of confidence in this picture finding an audience.
One thing I think for certain: The Gods of Mars will be announced some time after John Carter‘s opening weekend. But so was Tron: Legacy 2.
*Having seen the film I can tell you there’s a lot that Disney isn’t showing in their promotion, visually – which is a shame. Take that for what it’s worth.