John Carter of Mars (film)
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- John Carter of Mars may also refer to John Carter of Mars (novel) and the character John Carter of Mars.
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This article or section contains information about one or more scheduled or expected films. The content will change as the film's release approaches and more information becomes available. |
John Carter of Mars is a planned film under development at Pixar as of 2007 about John Carter, the lead character in much of Edgar Rice Burroughs's 11-volume Barsoom series. It is rumored to be made in a format mixing live-action and animation,[1] which would be a change for a Pixar film, as all their previous films have been made in purely CGI.
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[edit] Disney/Pixar
Rumors began appearing in early 2007 that the Walt Disney Company was in negotiations to acquire the rights to the property for development through Pixar Animation,[2] or that it had already done so.[3]
In what was an April fools joke, Pixar blog Upcoming Pixar broke the news that John Carter of Mars would be Brad Bird's live action feature length debut as director. However the same blog confirmed that the film was to be made by Pixar on May 22, 2007. A month later, however, it was revealed that Brad Bird's first live-action film would be 1906. But it was revealed that Carter will use a combination of animation and live-action and is said to be in theaters in 2012.
On October, 2007, the director of John Carter was revealed to be Andrew Stanton and the screenwriter Mark Andrews. Both were visiting Tarzana, California to look into the Edgar Rice Burroughs Archives. [4]
[edit] Previous attempts at a film adaptation
At least four earlier attempts by various parties were made to translate this adventure series to film since the first novel, A Princess of Mars, was first published in 1912; all were aborted. The first attempt was to be an animated feature with Burroughs himself on board, but disagreements between the studio and the filmmakers doomed the project.
[edit] Bob Clampett and the Burroughs family
In 1931, the first documented attempt was made by animation pioneer Bob Clampett. It was to be his first independent project since making a name for himself as an animator at Warner Bros. Clampett approached Edgar Rice Burroughs himself about making an animated version of the books Clampett adored. To the animator's pleasant surprise, Burroughs was enthusiastic about the idea of an animated film as he was eager to give his characters wider exposure. (The Mars books had won a reasonable level of success on their own, but nowhere near the author's Tarzan book series.) Burroughs' son, Jack Burroughs, recently-graduated from college, was fascinated by Clampett's unique animation style. He and the animator collaborated in creating an extensive cachet of notes, sketches, and models--that would be the film's blueprints--and a reel of test footage. All the while, Burroughs the Author sold the film rights to Metro Goldwyn Mayer, the studio that was already producing the Tarzan film series starring Johnny Weismuller.
The project was moving ahead expeditiously, until 1935. The executives at M.G.M soon clashed with Clampett and the two Burroughs men over the direction in which to take the film: the creators wanted a serious sci-fi adventure tale; the execs wanted a slapstick comedy with a swashbuckling hero. Eventually, the studio put an end to the entire project, citing it as "too expensive". Had it been created, the first in a series of short films would have debuted in 1936.
When Clampett toured colleges and universities in the late 1970s, he would screen test footage he had co-created with Jack Burroughs. The audience reaction was always ecstatic.
[edit] Ray Harryhausen
In the early 1960s, stop-motion animator Ray Harryhausen, fresh off the success of The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad, attempted to take command of the long-troubled project for M.G.M (which he details in his memoir, An Animated Life). Like Bob Clampett and Jack Burroughs before him, Harryhausen created an extensive array of notes, sketches and models to be used in the film. Although the animator tried for several years to get the film going, the sheer scale and expense of the project (as well as his admitted lack of enthusiasm for the book on which the film is based) forced him to leave the project. This forced the proverbial "plug" to be pulled on the project once again.
[edit] Touchstone Pictures
The project came the closest to fruition in the late 1980s when the film rights were acquired by the Touchstone Pictures division of The Walt Disney Company. To help off-set unforeseeable costs, Carolco Pictures heads Mario Kassar and Andrew Vajna were brought on as producers. For the first time since Bob Clampett was let go from the project, an official director was announced in 1988: John McTiernan, fresh off the back-to-back successes of Predator and Die Hard. McTiernan hired then up-and-coming screenwriters Terry Rossio and Ted Elliott to write the screenplay, while production designer William Stout was brought on board to create the unique look of the film. Both McTiernan and Stout have gone on record[5] as saying that Tom Cruise was in talks to play John Carter (there are long-persistent rumours that Julia Roberts was in talks to play Carter's love interest, Dejah Thoris, but there is little evidence to substantiate this.)
However, the project was once again marred by its sheer scale and rising budget. Furthermore, McTiernan was unhappy with the state of cinematic special effects at the time, feeling they needed to advance to achieve the appropriate effect needed for the landscape of Barsoom. The growing budget is one of many factors that contributed to the eventual bankruptcy of Carolco Pictures.[citation needed]
During the 1990s, Disney/Touchstone made several attempts to get the project up and running again, but to no avail. Sometime after, the rights expired.
[edit] Paramount Pictures
In 2002, the rights were acquired by Paramount Pictures, which originally planned to release the film under the title A Princess of Mars. It was changed during development to John Carter of Mars. Although this title has the same name as Burroughs's final book in the Barsoom series, the content was to be based on several Carter novels. If the film was successful, Paramount made it known sequels were likely as the studio wanted to make it into a franchise.
The film was to be produced by Alphaville Productions partners Sean Daniel and Jim Jacks. The script was written by Mark Protosevich and rewritten by Ehren Kruger. No actors were attached to the project.
In 2004 it was announced that Robert Rodriguez would direct[6] from a screenplay by Mark Protosevich. Soon after, Rodriguez' friend, webmaster, and life-long fan of the books, Harry Knowles, was named as a co-producer with Daniel and Jacks. It would have been Rodriguez's largest project with a reported starting budget of $100 million. Rodriguez even went so far as to hire as production designer one of his favorite painters, fantasy artist Frank Frazetta (whose commissioned painting have graced many covers of Edgar Rice Burroughs books, particularly the Mars)[6]. However, later that year Rodriguez got into a dispute with the Directors Guild of America (DGA) over the credits of his movie Sin City, forcing him to resign from the guild. As a result, he was forced to relinquish the director's chair on what had just been re-named John Carter of Mars, the producers having an agreement with the DGA only to work with guild members.
Soon after, Kerry Conran, director of Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, was named as the new director. In 2005, Conran left the project for reasons that are unclear. As of October of that year, Jon Favreau was scheduled to direct the film; subsequently, it was said to be helmed by Brad Bird of Pixar fame. Finally, in 2006, Paramount decided not to renew their option on the work, determining to make a new Star Trek film instead. [7]
[edit] References
- ^ Sanchez, Stephanie (2007-06-22), “John Carter of Mars Live Action or Animated?”, IESB, <http://www.iesb.net/index.php?option=com_ezine&task=read&page=1&category=1&article=2753>. Retrieved on 2007-06-28
- ^ "Disney on mission for Mars rights" from Reuters
- ^ IESB.net - Movie News, Reviews, Interviews and More! - Exclusive POTC 3 Coverage: Pixar Heads Lasseter and Catmull on John Carter of Mars!
- ^ News in ERBzine
- ^ "William Stout Interviewed by John Arcudi" from The Comics Journal
- ^ a b "Cool News" from Ain'tItCool.com
- ^ "Confirmed News" from the John Carter of Mars Unofficial Fan Site
- "Lost Cartoons: The Animated John Carter of Mars" by Jim Korkis
[edit] Further reading
- An Animated Life by Ray Harryhausen.
[edit] External links
- John Carter of Mars at the Internet Movie Database
- Variety article on Favreau's attachment (October 5, 2005)
- Movies.com entry on the movie
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