ROTTEN TOMATOES: Pixar Taking John Carter to Mars, Theaters

Pixar Taking John Carter to Mars, Theaters

Studio hoping to build franchise from Burroughs classic.

by Jeff Giles | October 09, 2007

John Carter is going to Mars, and Pixar is bringing his journey to the big screen.

ERBzine, the "Official Edgar Rice Burroughs Tribute and Weekly Webzine Site," reports that development on an adaptation of the author's classic John Carter of Mars -- hoped to be the first installment in a franchise covering the 11-volume series of books -- is gaining momentum. From the site:

The Pixar creative team spent Tuesday morning exploring the massive Edgar Rice Burroughs archives in the ERB, Inc. offices on Ventura Blvd. Pixar's Jim Morris (vp), Andrew Stanton (director), Mark Andrews (script) discussed the "John Carter of Mars" film project with Burroughs representatives, Danton Burroughs, Sandra Galfas and Jim Sullos.

All six members at the meeting expressed a deep commitment to the project, acknowledging that they had been inspired by Burroughs' creations from a very early age. This is evidenced in the excitement held for the John Carter property and the plans for a film trilogy faithful to the Burroughs books.

According to ComingSoon, the "projected release year for the first film is 2012." The site provides the following synopsis:

The film begins with a Civil War veteran whose retreat into a cave to avoid capture by Apache Indians takes an otherworldly turn as he's transported via time portal to the planet of Barsoom and taken prisoner by 12-foot-tall green men.

Source: ERBzine
Source: ComingSoon

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(1-15 of 15 posts) | Reply

witherwings writes:
on Oct 09 2007 07:40 AM

Wow, the Wall-E poster confused me for about two minutes. John Carter IS Wall-E, huh? But now I think I get it. Well, if Pixar likes it... I trust them...

(Reply to this)

Vitamin M writes:
on Oct 09 2007 10:02 AM

Count me excited!

(Reply to this)

Buster52 writes:
on Oct 09 2007 10:17 AM

I'm a little concerned. Does this mean Pixar is taking a more serious turn? Or are they going to cartoonize the series, with cute little characters out to charm our socks off? If the former, I'm really looking forward to this film. If the latter, I dread it.

Seems to me Frank Miller (ala Sin City and 300) would be a better fit.

(Reply to this)

Prosper761 writes:
on Oct 09 2007 10:41 AM

I was excited when Jon Favreaux was slated to direct a live-action version of the first "Barsoom" novel. Now I'm bummed that it's going to be a CGI cartoon.

(Reply to this)

dahluzz writes:
on Oct 09 2007 10:52 AM

i can't wait for the Wall-E / Wal*Mart cross-promotional merchandising campaign! woo!

(Reply to this)

High School With Money writes:
on Oct 09 2007 11:37 AM

I guess this'll kill any possible prospect of Brad Bird's [i]Ray Gunn[/i] movie being made any time soon and/or later. But that's the only bad news I can cull from this. Otherwise, I'm soopah-intrigued.

(Reply to this)

ManofStee1 writes:
on Oct 09 2007 01:42 PM

Do want. Brad Bird directing would be a dream come true.

Frank Miller should only direct comic book movies. He would be terrible on this project. That said, they do need to make sure that this project is target toward adults. It would be fantastic to see what Pixar could do with green-screens and realistic cgi characters.

(Reply to this)

POPCORNLUMPY writes:
on Oct 09 2007 02:56 PM

OMG NO TS3 NEWS!!!!!!!

(Reply to this)

bobbquackenbush writes:
on Oct 09 2007 03:48 PM

I'm a big John Carter fan and have been for almost fourty years. Still, I am not holding my breath over the idea of this being a Pixar film. They haven't done an adult feature yet, and I'm not sure they can. I would hate for this to be an experimental film for them.

(Reply to this)

Holly Jolly writes:
on Oct 09 2007 04:54 PM

Just for those who don't know it will be like Sin City, or Roger Rabbit in that it will be live action meets heavy CGI.

(Reply to this)

damvbat writes:
on Oct 09 2007 04:57 PM

whatever dude

(Reply to this)

hotbox2001 writes:
on Oct 09 2007 06:50 PM

with this and Del Toro's 'Mountains' it's finally time to get excited about going to the movies...

(Reply to this)

jerseycajun writes:
on Oct 09 2007 09:20 PM

bob, Pixar is already slowly edging towards more experimental animation. Ratatouille was more adult oriented (without the negative connotations that go with that adjective) and mature than most of even their own library. Wall-E is mostly without dialog.

There is always the chance that taking a certain risk will fail, but I would rather more studios took risks like Pixar seems willing to do. Some risks don't pay off, but when they do, they revolutionize industries and challenge viewers in good ways. They show us that what we thought was once thought impossible or improbable can be done.

(Reply to this)

bobbquackenbush writes:
on Oct 10 2007 03:27 PM

When I first heard they where going to make John Carter I had just finished seeing 300. Although it was a homo erotic mess, the special effect work, especially the interaction between real and CGI was amazing. This is what I was hoping for until I heard Pixar was making it. Fact is the Carter story was not for children, but was made for adults and I just don't think Pixar/Disney is going to give it any edge at all.

But I have been wrong before.

(Reply to this)

daveslayer writes:
on Mar 14 2008 06:08 AM

I hear pixar is going to do an adaptation of Naked Lunch next

just keep em coming.

(Reply to this)

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