Talks on doing a John Carter Warlord of Mars Movie in the works. Sweet another Burroughs classic taken to the big screen.
These talks have been going on for over two years now. At one time Guillermo del Toro was set to direct, but the Director's Guild screwed it up. John Favreau was up at one point too.
Wish there was more solid info out there about it. It's a Pixar production.
These talks have been going on for over two years now. At one time Guillermo del Toro was set to direct, but the Director's Guild screwed it up. John Favreau was up at one point too.
Actually it has gone through several film studios and directors.
In 2003, Robert Rodriguez signed on to direct after his friend Harry Knowles gave him the script. Recognizing Knowles had always been an advisor to many filmmakers, Rodriguez asked him to officially be credited as a producer.[2]
Filming was set to begin in 2005, with Rodriguez planning to use the digital sets he was using on Sin City. Rodriguez planned to have Frank Frazetta, a popular John Carter illustrator, serve as a designer on the film. However, Rodriguez had created controversy over his decision to credit Frank Miller as co-director on the film adaptation of his comics, and chose to leave the Director's Guild of America. Unable to hire a non-DGA filmmaker, Paramount assigned Kerry Conran to direct and Ehren Kruger to rewrite the script in October 2004. The Australian Outback was scouted as a location. Conran left the film for unknown reasons, and was replaced by Jon Favreau in October 2005.
Favreau and screenwriter Mark Fergus wanted to make their script faithful to the novels, keeping John Carter's American Civil War past and making the Martian Tharks fifteen feet tall (whereas other scripts made them human sized). Favreau explained a modern soldier would not know how to fence or ride a horse like Carter. The first film would have adapted the first three novels, A Princess of Mars (1911), The Gods of Mars (1913) and The Warlord of Mars (1914). Unlike Rodriguez and Conran, Favreau preferred using practical effects for the film and cited Planet of the Apes as his inspiration, wanting to use make-up as well as CGI to create the Martian Tharks. However, Favreau's official affiliation with the project was not strong, and in August 2006 Paramount chose not to renew the film rights, preferring to focus on Star Trek. Favreau and Fergus moved on to Iron Man.
In January 2007, Disney regained the rights, acquiring them this time for Andrew Stanton and writer Mark Andrews. By 2008 they completed the first draft for part one of a film trilogy. Having completed WALL-E, Stanton planned to have his next film out in 2012, the centennary of the series. Stanton and Wells visited Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc.'s archives in Tarzana, California, as part of their research. Jim Morris, general manager of Pixar, said the film will have a unique look separate from Frank Frazetta's illustrations, which they found dated. Ed Catmull said Pixar will not do the special effects; Stanton noted he was effectively being "loaned" to Walt Disney Pictures because Pixar is an all-ages brand, whereas John Carter will be rated PG-13. The first film will be based on just the first novel.
Knowing well the political correctness and groupthink of Hollywood, John Carter will probably end up being a lesbian warrior-woman trying to save the environment of Mars from someone who vaguely resembles ex-president Bush.