So, after the slightly lower than expected domestic opening (but still massive overall haul) for “Pirates Of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides” reports surfaced that perhaps audiences were fatiguing on paying out extra dollars on top of already high movie ticket prices for the 3D experience, especially families. Well, apparently, Disney doesn’t feel that’s the case.
The studio is trotting out their celebrated “The Lion King,” and giving it a 3D re-release. Arriving on September 16th, the film will find Simba, Mufasa, Scar and everyone given the three-dimensional treatment all in the hopes of parting with your hard earned dollar. The month is pretty empty in terms of family entertainment — the only real competition is Warner Bros. awful looking “Dolphin Tale” opening the following week — so this should do decent business from parents looking for something to occupy their children.
But that’s not all that’s happening on the Disney front. The studio has also revealed that “John Carter Of Mars” will now just be known as “John Carter.” While we understand that sci-fi titles are a tough sell, an even harder sell are movies that names of people that nobody knows about. We’re sure the Disney marketing machine will get awareness out there but the name change is pretty weak sauce.
Directed by Andrew Stanton and boasting a pretty stellar cast including Taylor Kitsch, Samantha Morton, Dominic West, Polly Walker, Willem Dafoe, Lynn Collins, Bryan Cranston, Ciaran Hinds, James Purefoy, Thomas Haden Church, Mark Strong and Daryl Sabara, the film is an adaptation of Edgar Rice Burroughs’ “John Carter of Mars” series, about a Civil War soldier who is transported to Mars and embarks on alien adventures. The film opens on Disney’s favorite new spring spot, March 9, 2012. [via Deadline]
