Wall-E director making John Carter of Mars!

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WALL.E director Andrew Stanton says he's "deep into" pre-production and scripting on Disney's John Carter of Mars, the long-in-development adaptation of the Edgar Rice Burroghs sci-fi literary series.

During an interview with SCI FI Wire at the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, Stanton revealed, "I'm on my next draft of it. We're in preproduction art-wise, and we're starting to talk to actors. So it's full bore."

The movie will be live-action rather than CG-animated, as had been previously reported. But, as the director pointed out, "there are so many creatures and characters that half of it's going to be CG whether you want it to be [or not], just to realize some of these images that are in the book. But it will feel real. The whole thing will feel very, very believable."

Stanton is aware of the pitfalls that Burroughs' classic tale presents for any filmmaker, calling John Carter "such a foundational story to so many films and stories and sci-fi ideas that have come since the '30s and 1912 and stuff. So the trick is how to not make it seem cliché and derivative because it's such an archetype story now."

The director intends on making John Carter a two-hour, PG-13 "all-ages film" to be released in 2012.

[neverending]

This will be cool if they don't hoke it up. The Mars books had a lot of cool creatures in them.

[phantomstranger]

The "John Carter" series is one of the most entertaining pulp sci-fi books around. Lets hope they do a good job.

[phantomstranger]

Kitsch Set, Collins Confirmed for John Carter of Mars!
Source: ComingSoon.net
June 12, 2009


Walt Disney Pictures has announced that "Wolverine" stars Taylor Kitsch and Lynn Collins (confirming our earlier scoop) will reteam for John Carter of Mars, the live-action debut of WALL•E and Finding Nemo director Andrew Stanton.

Kitsch will play the title character, a damaged Civil War veteran who finds himself mysteriously transported to Mars where his involvements with warring raced of the dying planet force him to rediscover his humanity.

Collins will play Dejah Thoris, the heir to the throne of Mars' Helium kingdom.

The screenplay for the sci-fi action-adventure, based on the Edgar Rice Burroughs classic series of fantasy/sci-fi novels, was written by Stanton and Mark Andrews.

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Willem Dafoe will star alongside Taylor Kitsch and Lynn Collins in "John Carter of Mars," the Walt Disney Pictures fantasy epic to be directed by "Wall-E" helmer Andrew Stanton.

Dafoe will play the role of Tars Tarkas, a fierce green Martian warrior, who's unusual among his savage race for his ability to love. Tars develops an alliance with John Carter in the first film, which is based on "A Princess of Mars."

He fights battles alongside Carter through the entire series of Edgar Rice Burroughs books, so he will be hanging around for sequels.

Kitsch, who's coming off "The Bang Bang Club" and the TV series "Friday Night Lights," was set in June to play the title character, a damaged Civil War vet who finds himself mysteriously transported to Mars. Collins, who acted alongside Kitsch in "Wolverine," will play the Princess of Mars.

Jim Morris and Colin Wilson are producing. Stanton wrote the script with Mark Andrews.

[urgeok2]

now we're talking !

i'm a huge burroughs fan - esp the mars series ..

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Three English actors have joined the cast of big-budget fantasy feature John Carter of Mars, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Dominic West, best known for playing hard-drinking cop Jimmy McNulty in The Wire, has been cast as Sab Than -- prince of the Zodangans -- who believes he is entitled to rule Mars.

Samantha Morton, who has starred in the likes of Minority Report and Enduring Love, will play Sola -- a gentle soul who must hide her soft side from her warmongering race.

And Rome star Polly Walker will play the polar opposite -- a merciless, tyrannical Thark called Sarkoja.

The home-grown thesps join Taylor Kitsch, Lynn Collins and Willem Dafoe in the ever-expanding cast.

Based on the Edgar Rice Burroughs series of books, John Carter of Mars follows the adventures of a Civil War soldier who becomes stranded on Mars and embroiled in the planet's ongoing war.

Pixar veteran Andrew Stanton directs from a script he wrote with Mark Andrews, with the film due in cinemas in 2012.

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Some stills:

John Carter is based on the classic novel by Edgar Rice Burroughs and follows former military captain John Carter (Taylor Kitsch), who is inexplicably transported to Mars where he becomes reluctantly embroiled in a conflict of epic proportions amongst the inhabitants of the planet, including Tars Tarkas (Willem Dafoe) and the captivating Princess Dejah Thoris (Lynn Collins). In a world on the brink of collapse, Carter rediscovers his humanity when he realizes that the survival of Barsoom and its people rests in his hands.

John Carter is directed by Andrew Stanton. It will be released by Walt Disney Pictures and will hit theaters on March 9, 2012.