"John Carter of Mars" movie thread

[Michael]

We've got several threads with bits and pieces of information in our Pulp Authors Forum but I think it's time to move the discussion here.

Disney/Pixar are partnering on bringing Edgar Rice Burroughs' "John Carter" character to life in one, possibly more movies. The first film, based on the book A Princess of Mars, will be called "John Carter of Mars".

So far we know that the movie will be filmed in Utah and pre-production begins this October. Actual filming should begin in November.

Cast information is sparse but we know the following for sure at this time:

• Taylor Kitsch will play John Carter
• Lynn Collins will play princess Dejah Thoris
• Willem Dafoe will play Tars Tarkas

Mark Strong (Septimus in "Stardust" and Sir Godfrey in the upcoming Russell Crowe "Robin Hood") and Thomas Hayden Church (Johnny Whitefeather in "Imagine That" and Flint Marko in "Spider-man 3") are rumored to also be involved with the movie.

Andrew Stanton from Pixar is writing/directing the film.

I have a WorldFAQ about Barsoom (ERB's version of Mars) on Xenite.Org. It's an older article and that section of the site has not yet been updated.

John Carter of Mars WorldFAQ

The movie is slated for release sometime in 2012.

[Michael]

The Hollywood Reporter announced three more cast members a few weeks ago.

• Samantha Morton will play Tars Tarkas' daughter Sola
• Polly Walker will play Sola's tormentor/mistress Sarkoja
• Dominic West will play Dejah Thoris suitor/would-be Barsoom conqueror Sab Than

Disney confirmed that the movie will be released in the summer of 2012. I suspect someone will come up with the marketing scheme of naming 2012 "The Year of Edgar Rice Burroughs".

Prepare for an onslought of History and Biography channel documentaries.

[Michael]

And yet more information.

September 11, 2009 - Earlier today at Disney's D23 Expo, the company's feature film head honcho, Dick Cook, offered up information on a number of Disney's upcoming films, including a brief bit of intel on the long-awaited adaptation of John Carter of Mars. Directed by Wall-E's Andrew Stanton, the film is moving steadily through pre-production, so no footage was, as of yet, available to show to the gathered audience, but Cook did display some early concept art of the sci-fi adventure film.

Read the full article here.

I'm a little surprised at the suggestion near the end of the article that Stanton is thinking in terms of a trilogy. Still, if that is the case, then I would hazard the guess that he will adapt the next two books in the series if the first movie is successful.

I would like to think they'll get at least as far as The Chessmen of Mars (which I feel is the best of all the Barsoom novels) before they drop out of the franchise.

But perhaps I'm looking too far down the road for now.

[august]

And if they really want to, they don't need to change heroes as Burroughs did - the things that happen to Carthoris, "Vad Varo" (Ulysses Paxton) and Tan Hadron of Hastor in the later books can always be re-written slightly and happen to John Carter.

[Michael]

No, no! You cannot have John Carter fall in love with all those other women! Absolutely not!

If they want to do all the books, they MUST do them right!

[Boomstick]

Originally Posted by Michael

No, no! You cannot have John Carter fall in love with all those other women! Absolutely not!

If they want to do all the books, they MUST do them right!

Well, one can hope, but film franchises being what they are, I wouldn't bother keeping your fingers crossed!

[Michael]

So, what, you're saying I shouldn't get out my Hardcore Purist Hat and start protesting? It's a fait accompli, like with Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings movies that the books shall not be followed to the letter?

Oh, the humanity!

[august]

Or the Thark-ity....

[august]

Plus if they do make it as far as Chessmen, I'm not seeing them doing faithful recreations of the Kaldanes, the headless bodies controlled by the grotesque spider/crab beings who sit atop their shoulders...... If anything, they could do like the Bond books, and skip around in the timeline, and take pieces from later books to flesh out plots in films.

Honestly, I'm not expecting any tremendously faithful adaptation of "Princess," although the fact that they are casting fairly minor characters like Sola the Thark implies that they are in fact sticking to the story.

[Michael]

I think digital film-making technologies would allow them to do the Kaldanes very faithfully. It would come down to a matter of budget and commitment, in my opinion.

You know, the old Doug McClure adaptations of The Land That Time Forgot and The People That Time Forgot were pretty good, considering the low budgets they were filmed on -- because they focused on story-telling and left the special effects to a minimum.

The stories lent themselves better to low-budget SF than the Carter books, but I think it's within the reach of a fairly modest budget to do many of the bizarre creatures ERB imagined for Barsoom.

[august]

Oh I'm sure they could do an excellent cgi version of the kaldanes... it's just the eewww-factor

[august]

SciFi Wire reports on news from the Hollywood Reporter, on new cast members and what that implies.

Thomas Hayden Church will plays Tal Hajus, "an ambitious and vicious Thark warrior who is biding his time to be a ruler."

James Purefoy (MArk Antony on HBO's Rome series) will plays Kantos Kan, "the captain of the Xavarian, the kingdom of Helium's grand warship."

Mark Strong (mid-40-ish British actor with countless stage and film credits including Body of Lies, Syriana and Tristan + Isolde) will play "Matai Shang, the ruler of the Thems with godlike status."

Since Purefoy and Strong play characters from the second and third novels, SciFi Wire speculates that the movie will incorporate aspects of all three.

[Michael]

The current cast information as of October 11, 2009:

• Lynn Collins ... Dejah Thoris
• Taylor Kitsch ... John Carter
• Willem Dafoe ... Tars Tarkas
• Mark Strong ... Matai Shang
• Dominic West ... Sab Than
• Thomas Haden Church ... Tal Hajus
• James Purefoy ... Kantos Kan
• Daryl Sabara ... Edgar Rice Burrows
• Samantha Morton ... Sola
• Polly Walker ... Sarkoja

A number of Websites are inferring from the inclusion of Mark Strong as Matai Shang that the project may compress the first three books into one movie. However, I've seen other sources earlier this year that say the studios are hoping to produce three movies.

Hence, the inclusion of characters from the second and third books in the first movie doesn't have to mean much. Maybe small roles are being written for them to help audiences get a feel for who they are so they don't just suddenly appear in the middle of the franchise.

We'll just have to wait and see.