For awhile, the spectacular flop that was John Carter seemed the yardstick by which all other flops would be measured. A huge, multi-million dollar film chock full of CGI that was intended to spawn at least one sequel, if not a full franchise, its collapse at the box office was epic and thorough, prompting extensive examination of just what went wrong. In the midst of the furor was star Taylor Kitsch, whose attempts to make a name for himself in Hollywood have been met with failed film after failed film.
But Kitsch is still going strong, despite John Carter, Battleship, and Savages. He’s currently appearing in HBO drama The Normal Heart, and returns to his native Canada in miniseries The Grand Seduction. But there’s still a place in his heart for John Carter, and what might have been, as he tells Variety. Here’s what he said about his disappointment in the lack of a sequel:
I mean, look man, it wasn’t an uplifting experience. My biggest regret would have been if I didn’t do enough personally. If I didn’t give it everything I had. If I hadn’t prepped enough. I don’t have that regret, so that allows me to let go. I still talk to Lynn Collins almost daily. Those relationships that were born won’t be broken by people we never met … I miss the family. I miss Andrew Stanton. I know the second script was fucking awesome. We had to plant a grounding, so we could really take off in the second one. The second one was even more emotionally taxing, which was awesome.
Perhaps Kitsch simply wasn’t meant to be a big franchise star, or perhaps he just hasn’t found his Hollywood niche yet. He has managed to carry on with indie projects, and seems to be cutting out a fine little swath for himself beyond the franchise world. While he doesn’t sound too bitter about the failure of John Carter, he also doesn’t seem to think that it was any fault of the film that it was a failure. Those “people we never met”? Are they the fans who didn’t go see the film, or the critics who gave their opinion on it?
In any case, I’m sure Kitsch will do just fine, even if the John Carter sequel that will never be made was going to be a thousand times more awesome than the original film. An awesome sequel doesn’t help an original film be any better, after all.
