Disney gives up John Carter rights, author’s estate plans to make a new film

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

It looks like Disney has officially given up all hope of making up their losses on Andrew Stanton‘s criminally underrated JOHN CARTER. After failing to recoup the $200 million budget on the mis-marketed science fiction throwback, Disney has allowed the rights to the book and characters to revert to the estate of author Edgar Rice Burroughs. While this kind of thing happens all the time, the statement from Burrough’s estate is interesting in that it makes it seem like JOHN CARTER may be seen again.

John Carter of Mars was the creative stimulus behind such movie classics as Superman, Star Wars and Avatar,” said James Sullos, President. “Edgar Rice Burroughs was the Master of Adventure and his literary works continue to enjoy a world-wide following. We will be seeking a new partner to help develop new adventures on film as chronicled in the eleven Mars novels Burroughs wrote. This adventure never stops. Along with a new TARZAN film in development by Warner Bros., we hope to have JOHN CARTER OF MARS become another major franchise to entertain world-wide audiences of all ages.”

There have been numerous attempts to make a JOHN CARTER movie well before Disney made theirs in 2010. Various studios tried and failed with the rights passing from place to place. Tarzan seems to be easier to market than the Mars set JOHN CARTER series, but this also makes me wonder if Andrew Stanton would bother giving his sequel plans another try for another studio.

At the very least, JOHN CARTER may be rebooted in a different form or setting and just use the novels as inspiration. It could be that Hollywood saw Disney’s epic fail and may want to stay as far away as possible. Still, we can hope, can’t we?