Jon Favreau Would Have "Told A Smaller Story" In His Take On JOHN CARTER

Jon Favreau Would Have "Told A Smaller Story" In His Take On JOHN CARTER

Before he helmed Iron Man for Marvel Studios, Jon Favreau was attached to direct John Carter (back then it still had the, "of Mars" suffix) and he talks here about how his take on the character would have differed from Andrew Stanton's financial and critical disappointment.

By JoshWilding - Jul 25, 2012 12:07 PM EST
Filed Under: John Carter of Mars
Source: Crave Online


Once upon a time, Jon Favreau was set to helm John Carter of Mars. However, things didn't work out and he instead ended up bringing us 2008's brilliant Iron Man movie. Talking to Crave Online at the Television Critics Association tour today, he told the site the following. "I probably wouldn’t have been as ambitious. I think both of us really appreciated the source material. Stanton started to weave in elements from the later books. I probably would’ve told a smaller story." Apparently, his version would have focused more on Carter's arrival on Mars and his alliance with the Tharks, saving most of the events in the third act for another instalment. "As we were developing the script it was much more the experience of John Carter being found in this new world and him coming up in a Man Called Horse kind of way among the Tharks and then opening up the world slowly." Do you think that Favreau would have done a better job than Stanton? Sound off with your thoughts below!

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lunesta
lunesta - 7/25/2012, 12:48 PM
that would ive been his third shitty movie 1.iron man 2,cowboys and alien
IronLeprechaun
IronLeprechaun - 7/25/2012, 12:54 PM
Iron Man 1 was beast!!! My favorite CBM probably, and I agree that Iron man 2 and CAA were just stupid
Tevii
Tevii - 7/25/2012, 1:02 PM
I think he wouldve made a better John Carter.

As for Iron man 2 it was ok.not horrible by any means but just not great.

Cowboys and Aliens was a good movie...Just too high a concept for success. The title was a dead give away it was going to fail. Same can be said with Abe Lincoln Vampire hunter. They cant give high concept away in the title. They need to lure an audience in BEFORE the twist is revealed. That way the audience can see how it might actually work. Otherwise everyone pre-judges the idea and they dont go.
Philvis
Philvis - 7/25/2012, 1:05 PM
I still think John Carter was one of the best films of the year. I enjoyed it more than The Avengers. Just because it bombed in the theater doesn't mean it wasn't good. It just means not enough people were convinced enough to go see it.
Dedpool
Dedpool - 7/25/2012, 1:11 PM
I own and enjoyed John Carter alot. it's a viotim of it's own legacy with many scenes looking like the ones in past sci-fi movies like Star Wars, but were inspired by the JC books.

Iron Man was a great movie for a CBM.
Oxbow
Oxbow - 7/25/2012, 1:32 PM
i would have liked favreaus take better. the stuff with the tharks was the best part of JC imo
thunderforce
thunderforce - 7/25/2012, 1:36 PM
JC was great just the way it was and yes I want a few more JCOM movies .
95
95 - 7/25/2012, 1:43 PM
I like Jon Favreau. His movies are all enjoyable. Pretty sure I'd like his take on John Carter Of Mars. With a good script, of course. Andrew Stanton's script was too "Part-One-ish". Still enjoyed it, though.
Ceejay
Ceejay - 7/25/2012, 1:45 PM
There was absolutely nothing wrong with John Carter, the only thing that needed fixing was the lousy marketing for the movie. More people who actually watch it all give the reaction of how surprised they are it flopped. In my 45 years of watching films, this one is the one that deserved better box office the most! If there was any justice in the world then John Carter would have had the success that The Phantom Menace had, and George Lucas's digital farce would have flopped massively instead!
AlexDeLarge87
AlexDeLarge87 - 7/25/2012, 1:48 PM
I think he could have made a better version.
Slow start would have been good for the characters.
We get to know them better and learn to love them.
And when shit gets real and characters start dying the effects would have been much more deep.
AlexDeLarge87
AlexDeLarge87 - 7/25/2012, 1:49 PM
To me Stanton´s version had too much stuff going on. Characters here and there.
AlexDeLarge87
AlexDeLarge87 - 7/25/2012, 1:50 PM
But the special effects were cool.
SHHH
SHHH - 7/25/2012, 1:58 PM
This Guy Is Overated Outside Of Iron Man Nothing...
Cross
Cross - 7/25/2012, 2:02 PM
oh please. He only made one decent movie and that is the first iron man.
Mechagino
Mechagino - 7/25/2012, 2:36 PM
Iron Man 2 is much superior to one if you ask me. 1 is good but 2 is a lot better but then again I don't praise iron man 1 as much as others do.

Too bad John Carter bombed, the film was friggin awesome!
GrayMatter
GrayMatter - 7/25/2012, 2:47 PM
It sounds like Fav's version of John Carter would have been a lot better. The one we got was an absolute mess. There was too much random crap shoehorned in everywhere.

And as far as the Iron Man movies go, the first one was great, and Iron Man 2 was good (but not great). Personally I blame Justin Theroux for that movie's failings more than I blame Favreau.
NightBoyWonder
NightBoyWonder - 7/25/2012, 3:42 PM
John Carter was very good for what it was, especially the latter part.
TheGodOfMischief
TheGodOfMischief - 7/25/2012, 3:51 PM
Nothing wrong with the JCM we got in my opinion. I'm hoping for a sequel...ya k kw it's a good movie when you're left wanting more.
VFXme
VFXme - 7/25/2012, 4:17 PM
Hard to tell if Jon F would have done it better. Iron Man 1 was perfect.

I think Stanton could have done a few things better. You really had to watch the movie a couple times or more to hear the punch lines of a lot of the dialogue, which if you missed it, you missed out on some important details.

Me being a fan of the books since the 80's helped me know what was going on was a big help, but I had to explain some parts to friends who watched with me what was going on. Some things were too quickly dusted over. How many people GOT the fact that Tars know Sola was his daughter was significant? Or totally understood that the hoard raised the young indiscriminately, and that there were no family units, just the hoard?

The opening sequence of John Carter trying to walk on Mars looked like a guy trying to walk with a giant strap yanking him off the ground by his trousers, rather than someone floating and bouncing around in lesser gravity. I think something closer to what the first astronaut walking on the moon looked like would have worked better. I think if they had done better on just those few things, it would have been a better received movie, even if the title SUCKED. The marketing SUCKED too. Fans made better trailers than the Disney marketing dept. I ask friends even now if they saw "John Carter", and they mostly don't know what movie I'm talking about. Really bad on Disney's part to blow it like that.

I think the only way we get Back to Barsoom for a sequel is if another movie house buys the rights to the movie, and pays Disney ?whatever? to continue from where the movie left off. I wish I could have been to the early screening to let Stanton have a few of these ideas. Might have led to an even bigger budget though, to re-shoot anything else.

I give John Carter by Disney an A-. Marketing and movie naming a D-.

The series has been my favorite read, so I am hoping for sequels. Even if it isn't Disney who does it.
Tevii
Tevii - 7/25/2012, 4:19 PM
@godzillafart - Even though I disagree on both counts, I dont think he was saying Iron Man was crappy... he was numbering the two movies off that he thought sucked 1) Iron Man pt. 2, 2) Cowboys & Aliens

But not liking a movie just because everyone else did isn't necessarily trolling. Everyone loved The Dark Knight. I think it is overrated, slow, boring and has a pointless two-face arc that could've spared the viewer 20 minutes.... but im not trolling by any means. Just stating my opinion.
Tevii
Tevii - 7/25/2012, 4:22 PM
I do think Favreau woldve made a BETTER Carter movie... but the real weakness with the existing version was the choice in actors to play Carter. He was not a convincing Carter to me. You needed a tougher guy to play that role
VFXme
VFXme - 7/25/2012, 4:37 PM
I think Jon F's comment of how he would have spent more time on building up the experience between JC and the Tharks, maybe talking time to have John learn the language the old fashion way, and learning to fight the Thark way would have made some things easier to understand, like the points I made earlier.

And, not making the Therns so completely powerful with their blue weapon, and introducing them as the task masters behind all the warring factions, would have been closer to the books, and would have made the movie more understandable and easier to follow.

Plus, the 2nd movie, The Gods of Mars, would be a lot easier to keep inline with the book, with the First Borne being ABLE to defeat the Therns in countless battles would have been possible. A second movie now would have to have a new twist, a new invention for the 1st Borne, to be able to dominate the Therns and cancel out the power of the 9th ray weapon they have that turns everyone into dust. I guess some kind of sheilding element applied to their clothes, or a forcefield that cancels out or blocks the 9th ray would have to be intrduced.
VFXme
VFXme - 7/25/2012, 4:42 PM
Favreau would likely have directed live actors better than Stanton, (since he had no experience with it prior), using the same script. I think the casting was fine. I little fine tuning by a worthy director would have brought out better acting IMO.
Caveboy0
Caveboy0 - 7/25/2012, 4:55 PM
tharks were the best part of the movie so i don't disagree. every time they were on screen i really liked the movie.
goo
goo - 7/25/2012, 5:35 PM
The movie was fantastic. Better than I had expected. I rather have more of the story told than Favreau's "smaller story".

I agree with VFXme, it a really great film but marketing was horrible. Name change...? What were they thinking.

Those who missed it, rent it.
Doctor10nt
Doctor10nt - 7/25/2012, 7:12 PM
John Carter seriously didn't get the credit it deserved. It was refreshing to watch a fun, action, character driven movie where the protagonist was actually heroic. I personally get a little tired of so much anti-hero characterizations with dark themes. I found the light hearted approach very refreshing!
Jolt17
Jolt17 - 7/26/2012, 12:13 AM
Smaller scale? That's what I'd really love to see. I mean, not that I dislike Andrew Stanton's version; it's great, and I'm glad we can have it now. It just lacks of that most appealing aspect, which is the smaller scaled story: The focus on Carter's life on Mars, and how he adapts with it, and foremost, the classic saving-the-princess aspect of the tale, et cetera.

Stanton already did a great job in translating the series to the big screen, though, and I can now only hope that the follow-up will really come to life soon.
JayTopStix
JayTopStix - 7/26/2012, 10:52 AM
John Carter was an awesome movie. No disappointment here!
Tainted87
Tainted87 - 7/26/2012, 4:01 PM
John Carter was awesome
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