It is a long way from an official green light, but here is a confirmation of sorts -- Andrew Stanton is writing John Carter of Mars. According to The Pixar Blog, Stanton confirmed it as his next project. However, no further details were forthcoming so we still don't know if it is live action, animation, or some computerized combination. However, he did mention in the same press conference that he has "caught the bug" for live-action filmmaking.

Nor do we know if Stanton intends on adapting the first book, Princess of Mars, or if it will be some combination of many. As rumors have pegged John Carter as the franchise to eventually replace Narnia, I will venture a guess to say he's working on Princess. Plus it has a sexy title.

Now, I seem to be the only geek online who has not read Edgar Rice Burroughs' sci-fi extravaganza, so forgive my uneducated opinion -- but, from what I know of the series (thanks, Wikipedia), I genuinely hope it is live action. The world needs a glorious sci-fi opera, in all its pulpy glory, and it would be an interesting foray for Pixar. Plus, an animated John Carter just strikes me as a foray into the Uncanny Valley.

As Pixar and Stanton can do no wrong by me, I'm officially intrigued. I hope fans of the books chime in as to whether it ought to be live action or CG. And if your pick is live action, I'd love to know who you want to see as the dark-haired, gray-eyed immortal. I want to know who to picture when I (eventually) read the books.

Remember that rumor that we reported on several weeks ago -- the one from Jim Hill that said Disney was considering abandoning The Chronicles of Narnia franchise for John Carter of Mars? The response was, well, harsh. No one felt it could possibly be true.

Well, it might be. FirstShowing.net was at the Prince Caspian panel at New York ComicCon, where producer Mark Johnson confirmed that Disney was planning to end the series as a trilogy with The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. There are "no plans" at present to film the remaining books -- although there is the possibility that if Caspian and Dawn Treader do well, Disney will revive it. As of now, there's no confirmation that Disney plans to replace Narnia with John Carter -- but you have to imagine they'll certainly explore all options.

The news doesn't surprise me at all. I think Disney's enthusiasm for the beloved fantasy franchise was admirable, but not entirely well thought out. I stand by my original opinion that the books become darker, stranger and nigh unfilmable from this point on. I think A Horse and His Boy would make a spectacular standalone film, though, and an ideal place to revisit the series if Disney ever revived it. Well, at least I'm getting Dawn Treader. I can live just fine without ever revisiting The Last Battle, but give me Narnian adventure on the high seas!

The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian comes to theatres May 16th, 2008.

You know, for the Happiest Place on Earth, Disney can be full of drama.

Jim Hill reports that Disney is growing very concerned about their Narnia franchise, and much hinges on Prince Caspian. If it doesn't do well, the studio may be pulling the plug on the rest of the series. It is likely they will still continue with The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, as it is already in pre-production. (That news cancels out my howl of disappointment. That's my favorite!) There's no solid reason as to why, although Disney is undoubtedly picking up on the lack of buzz Caspian is producing. I don't really know anyone who loved The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe; the response seemed to be an underwhelming "It was all right."

It's possible Disney also didn't know quite what it was getting in for -- the books following Dawn Treader are a long way from talking mice. The Silver Chair is downright terrifying, The Horse and His Boy skips back to when the Pevensie children were adult Narnia rulers -- which could probably be explained via a title card, but it would stick out terribly. The Magician's Nephew is a Narnia creation myth, and The Last Battle. . .well, let's not even go there. That will have the children sobbing in the aisles. Not exactly ideal for merchandising.

Instead, Disney seems to be turning their attention to another live action franchise -- John Carter of Mars. From the sound of it, this may even be beating Brad Bird's 1906 to the title of First Pixar Live Action. It is all speculation, but Hill has put together an impressive what-could-be timeline that John Carter fans should check out. There are certainly telling rumors (and domain names) afoot. There is definitely a sense of urgency over at Disney, and it is going to be very interesting to see how it all pans out.

UPDATE: According to a Disney rep, this report is "entirely false." No other information was revealed, though one would assume the Narnia franchise is just fine and continuing along as scheduled.

[via IESB.net]

I'm trying not to get too excited about this latest -- let's call it a rumor -- that Edgar Rice Burroughs' other famous character, John Carter of Mars, is finally going to get the big-screen treatment he so richly deserves. As this has almost happened a few times before -- the latest being in 2005 when Iron Man director Jon Favreau was attached -- I'm not going to get my hopes up. Even though, as a huge fan of these works, I would really love to see them make it to the big screen. Various producers, directors and studios have been trying (unsuccessfully) to transform the eleven-book series into a film (or films) for a long time -- heck, the first book of the series, A Princess of Mars, was published in 1917.

So, Hollywood has had quite a few years to work on adapting this fantastic series. But, for whatever reason -- story, budget, casting, bad mojo -- it just never happened. So, fans of the series (including your humble writer) were left to wonder if it would ever happen at all. It didn't look like it, but at least we always had the books to go back to and enjoy, an un-official website for the film and some great paintings by artist Frank Frazetta to keep us inspired. But now, at least according to an article over at TMZ, it looks like some people are going to try to get this project going yet again. This time, according to the article, its the folks at Disney's Buena Vista Pictures.

I sincerely hope they get their collective stuff together and actually make something happen this time around. These venerable novels about civil war vet John Carter and his quest to bring order to the ruling clans of Mars are timeless adventure stories that can appeal to most any age. That's probably why Disney is interested -- I mean, you can only get so much mileage out of the Pirate's franchise. Eventually, you need a new one to hang your studio on. Perhaps Disney is hoping John Carter can fill the void left by Jack Sparrow when he finally sails into oblivion? If so, that's one way to make sure these movies finally get made.

Hollywood has many sources of ideas it can turn into movies. Some movies are original ideas that come from the mind of one or more screenwriters. A more recent trend is to adapt hit television shows of the seventies and eighties into films. Of course, one of the most popular places for Hollywood to get ideas is from books.

Adapting books for the screen has a great tradition in Hollywood and has given rise to some of the most popular and successful films of all time. In fact, many of the films that have won the Oscar for Best Picture have been adaptations -- including The Silence of the Lambs, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Gone With the Wind and the recent The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.

Another book that will attempt to continue this tradition and take its place among these previous adaptations is Jennifer Egan's supernatural novel The Keep. According to a recent article in Variety (via Sci-Fi Wire), rights to the novel were recently optioned by StillKing Films (who's credits include The Illusionist and Doom) and will be adapted for the screen by writer Ehren Kruger (of The Ring and the upcoming John Carter of Mars).

Kruger will also be producing the film, which centers around a woman who is trapped in a haunted castle where she is seduced by a mysterious prisoner, along with Daniel Bobker and StillKing Film's Matthew Stillman. Having Kruger handle the adaptation duties is a good move for StillKing. If they're able to attach a director and cast on the same level as Kruger, the resulting film just might live up to the tradition established by those highly successful prior adaptations. No word yet, however, on who that director or cast might be.

What do you think, does this film have a chance?

Director John Favreau has taken on the ambitious project of turning famous science fiction novel John Carter of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs (a staple of the genre) into a major motion picture. Favreau realizes the daunting magnitude of the task, and has recently noted that if he doesn't feel like he's getting it right, the project will go "back on the woodpile." Currently the project is early development according the Favreau, who says that artists are at work on the research, and that a script is also in development. Apparently the project has gone through dozens of incarnations over the years, but because all but one of the characters are 15 feet tall green monsters, the technology to bring it beliveably to screen has only recently been available.

This story is certainly dear to the science fiction community, and a faithful screen adaptation could be alot of fun. I'm glad to know, however, that they are willing to let it go if they don't feel they can turn it into something deserving of the title. I'd much rather have no movie at all than a movie which doesn't do justice to the book. Stay tuned for further developments.

[via sci fi wire]