With the release of Disney's John Carter coming soon, all eyes are on the director Andrew Stanton to see if he can turn a film with a rumoured $250 million budget into a success story. Stanton - who has already experienced global success at the Pixar Studio with Finding Nemo and WALL-E - has shrugged off the pressure that will undoubtedly be placed directly on his shoulders.
John Carter is an adaptation of Edgar Rice Burroughs' sci-fi novels. Starring Taylor Kitsch, the live action movie tells the story of a Civil War veteran transported to Mars, where he becomes a valuable asset to the tribes fighting there. Talking to Reuters News agency, Stanton said "Every picture I've been on has had a huge budget with all the world watching. This is not that different other than, maybe, people are betting more against me because of the oddity of me suddenly stepping out of Pixar." It was the financial success of the Pixar films that enabled Stanton to make the ambitious transition to live action film and he admits that he struggled with the differences, initially: "I kept trying to apply my Pixar over-plan-it mentality," Stanton explained. "They would take a little but you could see it just didn't fit well with people. (Live-action) seems to attract more of a thinking of 'let's just fix it as we go,' more triage oriented."
So far, the reviews for John Carter are edging towards it being a success, rather than a flop, though views have been far from unanimous. Stanton claims not to dwell on box office figures but this weekend's theatre debut for John Carter will be the litmus test that proves Stanton's worth as a live action director.