Screenwriting Breakdown: What Went Wrong with John Carter of Mars

This week, we’re diving into one of Hollywood’s most infamous box office flops: John Carter of Mars—a film with a $250 million budget, a century-old legacy, and all the ingredients for success… yet it crashed hard.
Join us as we explore:

• What the screenplay did right—and where it completely lost its footing
• The challenges of adapting dense source material (and why that first 10 minutes confused everyone)
• Missed emotional arcs, flat dialogue, and world-building overload
• Studio interference, directorial decisions, and how the final product strayed from its potential

We’ll read select scenes, analyze the script’s structure, and open the floor for discussion on how this could have been saved.
Writers of all levels welcome!

I will upload the script to the group's Google Drive Folder. If you don't already have access to the drive, please send me a message with your email, and I'll get you added.