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The heroic John Carter may have conquered the Zodangans in the new science fiction movie bearing his name, but he just couldn't beat down the mighty expectations of Hollywood.
The movie took in only $30.2 million over the weekend, far below what a blockbuster $250 million should make with hopes for a sequel. And while Disney will be licking its wounds for a long time over "John Carter" underperforming, a lot of that pain could be felt in Utah, where any thought of a sequel being shot here — as the original was — is evaporating fast.
"I would be shocked at this point if there was a sequel, even if this movie trailed out fairly well," said Josh Dickey, the movie editor for the Hollywood trade newspaper, Variety. "Something dramatic would have to happen for us to get a sequel."
More than 60 days of the original film's production were shot near Big Water, as well as northwest of Glen Canyon Dam and near Kanab, boosting the state's economy with $19.7 million of new money, said Marshall Moore, executive director of the Utah Film Commission.
The state's vast vistas doubled for the Martian landscape, also known as Barsoom, and massive sets were built in southern Utah for the production, which was shot in the spring of 2010. Many local film crew members also worked on the movie.
While the state's film commission would have had to re-apply to have any John Carter sequel filmed here, it would have had an advantage over neighboring states of Arizona or New Mexico because, "in terms of the competitive edge visually, Utah already was in place because of the [established] look of Barsoom," Moore said.
Director Andrew Stanton ("Finding Nemo," "WALL-E") had envisioned two more sequels based on the popular pulp John Carter novels written by Edgar Rice Burroughs. But the movie's weak box-office coupled with a less-than-tepid response from critics is killing the possibility of a movie franchise.
Dickey said the first film would have had to earn at least $70 million in the U.S. alone in its opening weekend to pave the way for a sequel. "Disney is pretty cautious," he said. "They want to see a lot of money before they say, 'Let's do this.' 'Tron: Legacy' made $400 million, and they still haven't green-lit a sequel."
But any potential loss to Utah on filming a "John Carter" sequel doesn't faze the film commission's Moore. "It's not like I counted on it," he said. "I didn't have it on the books saying that Two and Three would be shot here. But if there is a second or a third, we'll go after it."
Since the Utah Legislature amended the film incentive law in 2011 to attract more movie productions to the state, "it's bearing some fruit," Moore said.
In the fiscal year 2012, from July 1, 2011 to this June 30, 22 movie and television productions will have filmed in Utah, totalling $28 million estimated to have been spent in the state. During that time, 700 temporary jobs were created over 340 production days.
The next big movie production to shoot in Utah will be the big-screen adaptation of "The Lone Ranger," starring Johnny Depp as Tonto, which will begin shooting for four weeks near Moab beginning this summer. That big-budget movie also is being produced by Disney.
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