2012’s John Carter has gone down in history as a misfire for Disney, who banked on Pixar’s Andrew Stanton to deliver the goods with his first live-action movie. The result was a flop, and a major blow to the star credentials of lead Taylor Kitsch. Seven years on, though, and John Carter has built a cult following, with Kitsch defending the film as being better than originally given credit for. Furthermore, he’s pointed to Netflix’s streaming of the movie as a key reason for why audiences are now finding the picture.
Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, Kitsch had this to say about how Netflix has boosted John Carter‘s profile:
“I think it got another life when it went on Netflix not long ago, maybe a year ago or something, but, yes, to be blunt. People stop me all the time for that, especially in Europe. It’s had a little mini-resurgence. Maybe, at the time, it was more of a knee-jerk reaction of ‘Let’s see how we can bury this and everyone that has a part in it.’”
Although some sequel ideas were being discussed at the time, it now seems unlikely that Kitsch would go back for another John Carter movie, having developed a solid career as a character actor. Still, we can’t completely rule out the prospect of someone tackling the Edgar Rice Burroughs source material in a new form, possibly even as a television or animated series.
For now, though, John Carter is available on Disney Plus to stream for anyone who hasn’t had the chance to catch it yet or wants to give it a second look.
The Hollywood Reporter interview on Kitsch’s career also shows how valued he’s become as a character actor in the industry, with recent appearances in American Assassin and 21 Bridges, as well as television turns in True Detective and Waco. To this end, it’s fair to say that John Carter‘s box office problems weren’t due to Kitsch’s talents, although he perhaps suffered from not being a well-established leading man in 2012.
What do you think about the retrospective appreciation of John Carter, though? Let us know in the usual place below whether your thoughts have changed on the movie and if you’d like to see a new take on the material at some point in the future.
