edgar rice burroughs Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Having put the final touches on a brilliant cast, John Carter of Mars is getting underway at Disney. Edgar Rice Burroughs' epic series has seen a lot of stops and starts over the years, and it's still unbelievable that it's actually happening. But at this point, it's still shrouded in pre-production mystery, but Ain't It Cool News wheeled a little information out of Willem Dafoe about his role as Tars Tarkas, a great Martian warrior and eventual ally of Carter. (Do AICN's Capone a favor and read the whole interview when you're done here. It's excellent.)

Dafoe revealed to Capone that he doesn't know much more than you or I might, but his enthusiasm for Tarkas and for Andrew Stanton is contagious. "I've seen a lot of the designs and things, and I've just started to do prep work now. I'm doing a play in New York, so I'm kind of preoccupied by that, but I'm starting doing scans and things like that, but it's going to be a real full-on ... Well, I'm nine feet tall with four arms, but, just from the scheduling, I'm going to do the stuff ... They'll use my face, but they'll enhance it in a way --both after and before-- in a way that I may not be recognizable. But, I'm good with that. It's particularly cool, because he's a creature, but he's got this huge range of character. And, he does cool things in the movies." As John Carter will be coming on the heels of all James Cameron, Robert Zemeckis, and Disney's Davy Jones' "game changing" technology, the possibilities of what this could look like are pretty enticing.

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I was slightly disappointed with the initial casting of John Carter of Mars, but as Andrew Stanton keeps bringing the wonderful with every addition to the roster, I just have to trust him when it comes to his choice of Taylor Kitsch. But Stanton is sending more impressive talent to Mars, as according to The Hollywood Reporter, James Purefoy, Thomas Haden Church, and Mark Strong have joined the cast.

Purefoy will be playing Kantos Kan, the captain of the Xavarian, the grand flagship of Helium. Carter meets him in the prisons of Warhoon, and they're forced to battle in a gladitorial match. They become allies as only former gladiators can, and Kan assists him on his quest to save Mars / Barsoom. I found it difficult to picture the secondary characters in Princess of Mars, so I feel lame in saying "Purefoy is perfect as Kan!" but he'll fit the part of a seasoned naval captain. He'll be quite dashing, even. (Actually, I think Purefoy would have made a good Carter.)

Church will be playing Tal Hajus, who THR calls "a vicious Thark warrior who is determined to become king." In the books, he's a Jabba the Hut type who lusts after Princess Dejah Thoris, and is happily ensconced as a leader, so this might be one of the first big changes you'll see in the story. It would probably make things a lot more interesting to have Church play him as a capable bastard than a slobby wreck.

Read more over at SciFi Squad

If it wasn't for Andrew Stanton at the helm of John Carter of Mars, I think the interest might completely bottom out with its casting. ComingSoon had the scoop via Twitter that Taylor Kitsch and Lynn Collins were set to star, and the rumor became reality in The Hollywood Reporter.

Kitsch will be playing the titular Carter, a Civil War veteran who is transported (via astral projection, leaving his lifeless body behind) to Mars. There he meets the lovely Martian princess Dejah Thoris, wins her hand, rediscovers his own humanity, and rescues Mars. The film is tipped to begin filming in 2010, and they've been scouting Utah for Martian locations.

When Stanton discussed the project earlier this year, he mentioned they wanted an unknown despite the fact Hugh Jackman was tipped as a fan favorite. How odd then that they've managed to recast 2/4 of Jackman's X-Men Origins: Wolverine. THR notes that Jon Hamm and Josh Duhamel also tested for the part, and while I've got nothing against Kitsch (I'm not going to hold Gambit against him), I really wish they had chosen Hamm. An ex-Confederate needs a bit of age and weariness to him instead of being a fresh faced up and comer ... but then again, a lot of Civil War soldiers were ridiculously young when they enlisted, so perhaps Kitsch can play it as disillusioned and old-before-his-time. One can hope ...

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.

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.

Can you imagine any post-WWII literature being remade and re-imagined as much as the classics of the 19th and early 20th Centuries? Maybe it's just too early. Maybe when I'm an old man, there will be countless adaptations of the Harry Potter books in the way there are presently many versions of Stoker's Dracula, Dickens' A Christmas Carol and Burroughs' Tarzan.

The constant reworking of classics, like Tarzan, likely has something to do with earlier films being too safe or censored. This accounts for remakes being sold as being truer to their source or as being an edgier revisit to something that exists as too innocent and simple in the consciousness of pop culture. The stories of Tarzan have been depicted as everything from childish adventures to mature drama, but Warner Bros. believes there is still another way to tell the tale of the man brought up in the wild.

The studio is looking at John Collee to write a script -- hopefully with Master and Commander in mind more than Happy Feet -- and Guillermo Del Toro to direct. The Pan's Labyrinth filmmaker would possibly be interested in taking on the project following the making of Hellboy 2: The Golden Army. Del Toro doing Tarzan? We know you have an opinion on this one ...

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]