Disney's 'John Carter': Why did it fail?

The epic sci-fantasy movie John Carter was also an epic failure, and this article explains various arguments of why the movie did so terribly. On one hand, the argument went that Disney should have marketed the movie more to hard core sci-fi fans (the film didn't even go to Comic-con), and on the other hand, it was argued that the film should have made the film more accessible to a broader audience. Meanwhile, the author of the article argues that the main problem with the film could very well be the source material itself. The film is based on Edgar Rice Burroughs' "A Princess of Mars," which is an 11-volume series from the early 20th century. Although the series is "a touchstone work of science fiction," almost no one has ever heard of it, and generally epic action-adventure movies today are based on a simple concept, such as a pirate ride at an amusement park.