Disney Might Be Killing 'John Carter' At The Box Office

Here we go again, and now, after seeing the movie theater offerings of John Carter around my neck of the woods, I have a bad feeling that the prophecy that the movie will open week, is being self-fulfilled.

I was looking up movie times for John Carter premiere weekend and I'm all geared up to see the movie.  Except, if one were monetarily frugal, you don't have a lot of options for seeing John Carter.

In my local movie theaters, John Carter opening exactly like Fright Night did... with a slew of 3D offerings and very few 2D showings.  Check this out for listings in Theaters around me:

2D:  3,  2,  2,  2,  (runtime: 2hr, 17 min)

3D:  4,  6,  6,  6.  (runtime: 2hr, 12 min)

If you're loathe to support 3D movies, I support the premise.  Live action 3D isn't all that extra great unless there's a ton of CGI in it or animated.  Like Transformers or Kung Fu Panda.

But also, if you're paying more for 3D, it looks like you're getting ripped off and getting five fewer minutes of movie to boot!!!

What's up with that?

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When Fright Night premiered, fans were pretty excited to see it.  Preview screenings had people raving about it.  I finally saw it and it was a pretty great tweaked remake from the original and fun.

But when Fright Night came to theaters, its theater schedule looked just like John Carter's does.... with minimal 2D showings, hoping to make you pay more for 3D.  And the 2D showings were at terrible times to catch.

When Fright Night was out... I thought I'd bide my time and wait.  Because surely the 3D screenings will fade and they'll keep the 2D screenings around and then I could catch it in theaters.

Instead, Disney pulled the 2D screenings and left only the 3D screenings, hoping to get every penny they could out of what few screens they had the movie on.

Now even though I'm seeing reports that Disney execs are poo-pooing box office estimates, this new action I'm seeing speaks so much louder than words.  But hey, I'm just the consumer looking to spend his 2D bucks and maybe there's something I'm completely missing here.

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My advice For Seeing 2D John Carter

Go John!!!  Go see it now!!!

If you really want to see John Carter in theaters but don't want to pay the extra for the 3D screening, GO NOW!

Because if Disney does the same thing to John Carter that they did to Fright Night, it will crater hard at the theater this weekend because no one wants to drop bucks on 3D and Disney will let it fade away, with nary a nudge after this weekend.

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