John Carter, the movie, based on the book John Carter Warlord of Mars didn’t do that well domestically. Earning $30 million over the weekend. Though it did better oversees, Disney is openly saying they won’t likely reap their total investment. But there the quote that caught my attention from the box office report from the LA Times.

“John Carter” was meant to appeal to young males. But a surprisingly older crowd turned up to see the movie this weekend, as 59% of the audience was over age 25. Those who saw the film — a 64% male contingent — assigned it an average grade of B+, according to market research firm CinemaScore.

Surprised that an old character attracted older people who might have heard of him? And spending movie on advertising trying to woo younger through a sexy collage of special effects rather than trying to warm them up to the story? A sign that the studio really didn’t understand what it was trying to sell. And spending over 200 million to produce and introduce a story that has little awareness and equity or following among youth without taking efforts to explain the story simply seems like marketing malpractice. With reports that, with marketing pushes its cost above 350 million, that was a heck of a gamble to assume so much in launching the film.