12 Movies That Were Dead On Arrival

12. John Carter

The quest to make Taylor Kitsch a bonafide star took another knock in this 2012 disaster. A film in production for literally the best part of 100 years, this adaptation of Edgar Rice Burroughs’ series of sci-fi novels epitomises development hell and demonstrates that some things aren’t worth waiting for.

The Barsoom series of novels sees John Carter, a civil war soldier, transported to futuristic Mars, where he puts his military skills to good use in the war torn plains of the red planet. It’s a fun, pulpy concept that seems like it could work fine for a big budget picture - and yet, studios have failed to make it happen since 1917. The issue was one of special effects, which were deemed too crude in every proposed iteration to bring the story to life. It wasn’t until 2012 when Walt Disney studios finally managed to bring us their vision.

Well, ultimately, no one really cared. The film was a trifle, decent silly fun in parts but with an at-times incomprehensible script and an astronomical budget that it was never going to begin to recoup. Planned sequels were scrapped, the studio head stepped down, and Taylor Kitsch continued to strive in the mid-card.