#4. John Carter (2012) | Own John Carter ($12 @ Amazon.com)
Why it shouldn’t have flopped: Released two months before The Avengers, buzz was high surrounding sci-fi. Sure, The Avengers had the Marvel Studios machine behind it, but John Carter had a youthful star (Taylor Kitsch) and a decent premise: a military man mysteriously finds himself on Mars and engulfed in battle with both man and beast.
Why it flopped: For one, who the hell is John Carter? With no name recognition, it was useless. We know, we know, John Wick didn’t have name recognition, either. True, but it did have Keanu Reeves, and since The Matrix trilogy — and for us, Point Break — ended fans have been clamoring for something cool (and they totally got it). Plus, John Carter wasn’t nearly as good as John Wick. And we’re also guessing none of you read the novel John Carter, right? Right. The losses came to about $108,610,950 on a $250m budget. Ouch.
What could have saved it: A new title, a better script, and a better lead. Yeah, we know Kitsch was good in Friday Night Lights and Lone Survivor, and that he was okay in True Detective‘s second season. But at the time he was known as the dude who screwed up Gambit in X-Men Origins: Wolverine and would later turn up in another flop with the guy from Taken in Battleship (2012).
Next: Hudson Hawk
