10 Would-Be Franchises That Failed At The First Hurdle
1. John Carter
Advertisement
Few films in recent years have become as synonymous will the term "flop" as Disney's 2012 feature John Carter. Fans of Edgar Rice Burroughs' genre-defining science fiction adventure series John Carter of Mars waited close to a century for the novels to find their way to the big screen. If the blandly titled John Carter could hit the mark then a cavalcade of sequels would follow. Warning signs loomed early for the bloated production that found the would-be franchise starter's budget spiralling disastrously out of control. Once costs reached $250 million, John Carter's chances of producing a sequel-worthy box office became virtually nil. Paul Dergarabedian of Hollywood.com noted that" John Carters bloated budget would have required it to generate worldwide tickets sales of more than $600 million to break even...a height reached by only 63 films in the history of moviemaking." John Carter went on to make just over $280 million at the worldwide box office. Disney intended John Carter to be the first in a trilogy but once the numbers started coming in the studio put their follow-up into permanent limbo. There you have it, 10 franchises that exploded on the launchpad before lift-off. What other franchise nonstarters did we miss? Let us know in the comments below.