The swashbuckling genre has been growing with popularity ever since Pirates of The Carribean. Disney and Pixar will tackle the science fiction swashbuckler John Carter. Based on the novels by Edgar Rice Burroughs which spawned a line of Marvel comics. Civil War vet John Carter is transplanted to Mars, where he discovers a lush, wildly diverse planet whose main inhabitants are 12-foot tall green barbarians. Finding himself a prisoner of these creatures, he escapes, only to encounter Dejah Thoris, Princess of Helium, who is in desperate need of a savior.
Andrew Stanton will direct and also wrote the first draft with Michael Chabon (Spider-Man 2) handling re-writes. Stanton is the man behind such wonderful Pixar films such as Toy Story, Wall-E, Finding Nemo and Monsters Inc. It's unlikely the film will be as violent as the books considering Pixar's involvement. This will be Pixar's first live-action movie. Robert Rodriquez (Sin City) and Jon Favreau (Iron Man) were both attached to direct at one point.
Taylor Kitsch (Wolverine) will play John Carter. The role was rumored to be offered to both Christian Bale and Tom Cruise. I'm actually glad to see Kitsch playing Carter.
Lynn Collins who also starred with Kitsch in Wolverine will also star. Collins is playing Princess Dejah Thoris.
Thomas Haden Church (Spider-Man 3) during an interview revealed he's also joined the film. It hasn't been confirmed which role he'll play. He stated he'd start work in the spring with live-action beginning around November in Utah, it seems he might play Tars Tarkas. Tars is a native Martian who ends up becoming a friend of Carter. He could also end up playing any of the many other aliens on Mars.
Empire Online listed John Carter as one of Samantha Morton's (Control, Minority Report) upcoming projects.
Here's an example of the conceptual artwork by artist Phil Saunders.
totally brilliant. it should be re-released. One of my all-time favourite movies glyn S
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