Way back in 2012, X-Men Origins: Wolverine star Taylor Kitsch looked set to hit the big time with the lead role in Disney's John Carter. Wall-E and Finding Nemo director Andrew Stanton was at the helm of the project, and expectations for it being something special were very high.
Unfortunately, fans of Edgar Rice Burroughs' story A Princess of Mars were left sorely disappointed, even with an impressive cast that included Lynn Collins, Willem Dafoe, Bryan Cranston, Thomas Haden Church, Samantha Morton, Mark Strong, Ciarán Hinds, and James Purefoy.
Reviews also weren't kind and the movie failed to find an audience, debuting with a dismal $30 million. It would ultimately earn $284 million at the worldwide box office, a terrible result considering the fact it cost $250 million to produce. Since then, the franchise has remained on the shelf, with talk of a sequel or reboot never going much further than that.
Recently, Screen Rant caught up with Kitsch and asked him to reflect on his John Carter experience.
"I learned an incredible amount on that movie. I still have great relationships with that movie, which says a ton," the actor says. "I have no ill will whatsoever, I learned a lot, man. And took some big strides personally and professionally through that. It hurt, obviously, at the time, but in retrospect, I wouldn't change a thing, to be honest. It is what it is, we all have those moments."
"It's fun when people stop and talk about JC and their kids, they watch it with their kids and whatnot," Kitsch continued. "That's what it was for, you know, it was fun."
It's hard to believe it's been a decade since the movie was released, and there's no denying that it's a shame to see how the franchise has fallen by the wayside and been largely forgotten.
We don't anticipate Kitsch getting the chance to reprise the role, unfortunately. However, as is so often the case in Hollywood, we have to believe John Carter will eventually be rebooted in some manner.