Disney Moves John Carter of Mars Feature to March 9, 2012 Tim Burton's Frankenweenie in 3D, an expansion of his original 1984 short, has been shifted from the originally announced March 9, 2012, to the more appropriate October 5th, 2012.  Along with pushing back Frankenweenie, the studio is moving up John Carter of Mars from June 8th, 2012 to the March 9th date vacated by Frankenweenie, where it'll go head-to-head against Ridley Scott's Prometheus. Prometheus has, in turn, left the March 9th slot to move to June 8, 2012 -- John Carter's old slot. 

James Purefoy on Stanton's John Carter of Mars
Comic Book Movie Fansite ~ Interview Excerpts ~ September 12, 2010
'I've seen artwork and it is just gonna be incredible. I mean really mind gobbly, just extraordinary, really amazing. There are two civilizations on the surface of Mars and John Carter gets teleported there from a cave. He ends up there and he sorts out and it's the first part of a trilogy of films. It's directed by Andrew Stanton who directed WALL-E and Finding Nemo. There really aren't that many geniuses working in Hollywood but I really think that he's one of them. If you only look at his story telling skills alone, which is what this whole job is about, just telling stories. then you would mark him down as someone who is just gobsmackingly brilliant at bringing you along on a story and adventure. It's gonna be extraordinary."

John Carter of Mars Release Date Announced
August 9, 2010
Disney has announced the release date for John Carter of Mars.  Stanton's John Carter of Mars will be released on June 8, 2012. It's an adaptation of the pulp-adventure novels by Edgar Rice Burroughs centered around A Princess of Mars - first written by Burroughs in 1911. This is the first of a planned series of ERB Mars films and some reports indicate that it will be in Disney 3D.

John Carter of the University of Paris reports:
New Clues Suggest Wet Era on Early Mars Was Global
Technology Daily ~ August 5th, 2010 
In recent years, the European Space Agency's Mars Express orbiter and NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter have found clay minerals that are signatures of a wet environment at thousands of sites in the southern highlands of Mars, where rocks on or near the surface are about four billion years old. . . . French and American researchers report in the journal Science this week that some large craters penetrating younger, overlying rocks in the northern lowlands expose similar mineral clues to ancient wet conditions. "We can now say that the planet was altered on a global scale by liquid water about four billion years ago," said John Carter of the University of Paris, the report's lead author. Other types of evidence about liquid water in later epochs on Mars tend to point to shorter durations of wet conditions or water that was more acidic or salty. More>>>

Disney wraps up Mars movie shooting in Utah
The Standard ~ August 2, 2010
SALT LAKE CITY - Principal photography is now completed in Utah for The Walt Disney Studios' upcoming feature film, "John Carter of Mars," being directed by Academy Award-winning filmmaker Andrew Stanton (Finding Nemo, WallâàôE), and produced by Colin Wilson (Avatar). Filmed throughout Southern Utah in the areas of Big Water, Kanab, Hanksville, Delta and Moab, the production created 300 jobs over a 120-day period, and brought $21 million into several rural Utah economies. "As Governor, I am particularly happy that Utah has been host to the recently completed production of 'John Carter of Mars' during the past year. The book series was a favorite of mine when I was young, and I can't wait to see the finished film," Governor Gary R. Herbert said. "This project has stimulated the state's local economies at a critical time and provided hundreds of jobs for Utah's film professionals." "This was an ideal project for Utah because of the unique landscapes we have within our borders," said Marshall Moore, director of the Utah Film Commission. 

JOHN CARTER OF MARS FILM INTERVIEW EXCERPTS
July 15, 2010
The Martian Chess site has interviewed Kev McCurdy the man responsible for all the swordplay in the John Carter of Mars film. A few highlights from this interview: 

Kev McCurdy: The swordmaster choreographs with the core stunt team. The stunt coordinator then films the fights, gives them to the director. The director then says 'cool'. The stunt coordinator then 'signs' the fight off. We then teach the actors concerned. . . .   Each character had their own style and I fitted their style to the way they were playing their character so moves became organic, they flowed easily for them. . . . We had a lot of fun developing the Thark style and making it as brutal and minimalistic as we could. . . . The styles of blade were designed by Mark Andrews. They fit the different races and this was helpful when designing the fighting styles. The Zodangan blade was straight and I used that for a very brutal close quarter combat style as well as long distance striking. The Heliumite blade was slightly curved so their style was, as I call it, 'living on the 45 degree'. Their movements were straight lined and diagonal whereas the Zodangans were straight lined and totally in your face. The Tharks had huge axes and spears and used those as well as anything else they could get their hands on. . . Taylor [Kitsch] is a natural at movement. He clicks into what is needed for the fights very, very quickly and he's awesome with a sword. . . . Lynn [Collins] was lovely to work with. The fans will love her because she's feisty, intelligent and beautiful. Everything that the character is. She has a beautiful movement about her and I didn't want to lose that when I was training her so I made all of her moves flow by using circular movements then using straight line moves to use her core strength when blitzing the Zodangans. She did an awesome job. 

Read the entire interview at MartianChess.com

The Official Frank Frazetta Museum Site features
A Tribute for Frank Frazetta
A tribute for Frank Frazetta will be held on July 17 from 1-6pm. 

The event will be held at 186 South Courtland St. East Stroudsburg PA 18301. There will be a semi-formal dress code and a $10 donation for the Juvenile diabetes research fund, a cause close to Franks heart since the diagnosis of one of his granddaughters with the illness. 

For more information contact: 570-421-9054.

Avatar Returns to the Movie Screens August 27
Canada.com ~ July 9, 2010
Film fans who haven't seen Avatar yet — or who can't wait to see it again — now have their big date: It's coming back to theatres on Aug. 27. The re-release on 3-D and Imax screens will include eight minutes of new footage. Avatar, the highest-grossing movie of all time, has already brought in $2.7 billion worldwide, and 20th Century Fox points out that it's also the top-selling Blu-ray Disc of all time.

LOS ANGELES - Avatar director, James Cameron, is training his 3-D camera on a planet closer to home: Mars. The Oscar-winning filmmaker has persuaded NASA to install a high-resolution 3-D camera on the next generation Mars rover, Curiosity, due to launch in 2011. Cameron, whose science-fiction epic Avatar has earned more than 2.7 billion dollars worldwide, argued that a rover with 3-D "eyes" would better help to capture public imagination in the mission. NASA has purchased a 3-D camera that would be rigged to a mast on top of Curiosity. "It's a very ambitious mission. It's a very exciting mission," Cameron said. "(The scientists are) going to answer a lot of really important questions about the previous and potential future habitability of Mars."

Bryan Cranston Talks John Carter
ComingSoon.net Interview Excerpt ~ June 9, 2010
CS: And then you've got Andrew Stanton's "John Carter of Mars."
Cranston: "John Carter of Mars" – Another fantastically-written film. This is based on the book "Princess of Mars" by Edgar Rice Burrows, which he started writing way back before "Tarzan" and wrote eleven novels following the exploits of John Carter, who's kind of a rebel from Virginia during the Civil War time. My character is a Northern Colonel and wants to and needs to recruit him into the cavalry of the northern army to help settle the Arizona territories because we're having tremendous difficulties with the Indians. He refuses and I keep grabbing him and forcing him to come into the fold. There's a whole bunch of exploits and he goes to Mars. He finds a portal to Mars, which is fascinating. Then the story takes places on Mars with all the creatures that Disney is so wonderfully and incredibly expert at creating, and then it also takes place back in the American Civil War time.

Extras needed for Disney Feature, "John Carter of Mars" Central Utah
Posted by crazeagency on Saturday, May 29, 2010 
Production is need of Extras to play warriors on John Carter of Mars. This will shoot in Hanksville, Utah. They need Dark Haired, Tan skinned Men and Women, Who are fit and in Good Shape.  Women who are 5'6 to 5'10, Men 5'10-6'4, 
They need you for Tuesday, June 1, Wich will be a fitting day, Pay is $101.50, Wed. and Thurs., June 2 and 3 for shoot days, Pay will be 150.00 per day. 

Set Photos From John Carter Of Mars! 
The movie has been kept very tightly under wraps but some pictures have finally emerged from Utah!
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These comments were also sent in by the person taking the photos: 

"The Stonehenge thing is a building made from wood and foam that was shot onto outside then formed. They are filming at the lake also using some log rafts for something. Seen a 4-wheeler with a saddle mounted about 10ft in air they must be going to CGI some animal under it. They have taken over Big Water. Rented about 10 buildings for special fx and storing props. The monkey arena is made from containers that are stacked and a green screen hung from tops." 

A local casting call asked for "good-looking, dark-haired, tan people ages 18-35 yrs old Male and Female." And the call requests that all extras turn in pictures that show off their figure - in fact they suggest the guys to just turn in shirtless pics altogether. 

From: io9.com
Earth's Mightiest Fansites
See more at: www.johncartermovie.com

John Carter Of Mars - Bones Made By Orlandi
Orlandi Statuary ~  May 03, 2010
"John Carter of Mars is a movie set for release in 2012. Orlandi was contacted to make the bones for a fight scene where saber tooth tiger bones are spread across a desert. We received the models from the film company, then molded the skulls, casting a few hundred in total. We think it is being filmed in part of a Utah desert."

Mark Strong Talks 'John Carter Of Mars' (excerpt)
Cinematical ~ April 7, 2010 
Cinematical: How has your experience been on John Carter of Mars?
Strong: It's an amazing experience. It's proving to be a fascinating jigsaw, and each moment, each line almost, fits into this vast plan that Andrew has, and he's been working on it for years. You have to have faith; you have to go in and do your stuff, because your piece of the jigsaw allows him to complete the puzzle, so I'm really enjoying it. It's a fascinating process, and I've still got quite a lot to go I'm filming for three months, the whole of March and then I've got a week or two in April, and then I'm out to Utah for a few days. So there's still plenty to go. We're right in the middle of it, but I find it fascinating. Last week I was performing in a massive warehouse with 400 extras on this floating platform in the middle of a battle between two opposing tribes, and the sequence took two or three weeks for an incredible four-and-a-half-minute sequence. It's amazing. 

Films that might go 3D
MTV ~ April 3, 2010
Recent Taylor Kitsch photo
"John Carter of Mars": Pixar and Disney have made bold moves into 3-D, but "John Carter" director (and Pixar vet) Andrew Stanton decided against shooting with 3-D cameras. While there's been no report that the film might be converted during post-production, that option remains a plausible one. 

The film's fantastical alien setting — not to mention its combination of CG animation and live-action — seems tailor-made for presentation in 3-D. And then there's the matter of the premium ticket price Disney could charge for a 3-D presentation. We'll see if economics outweigh artistry on this one.

Thomas Hayden Church, The Authentic Man
(Interview Excerpts)
Film School Rejects  ~ April 2, 2010
FSR: You mentioned wanting to do projects that are a challenge, and a lot of our readers are interested in Andrew Stanton movie and John Carter of Mars. I am interested in what kind of challenge that presents for you and. Are you done shooting on that?

No. Not even close. I have to go back here pretty quick in the next few weeks, and then all the rest of April, May, and a good chunk of June. Then it is going to be wrapped, and then there will be, like… you know, I will have post-production, motion capture stuff.

You know, in these big movies, my experience in Spider-Man 3, as they get along in the animation stuff, you do sort of…there is a good chance you will have to reshoot some stuff or some additional photography. The movie doesn’t come out until May of 2012, and I anticipate probably being involved in it up until it comes out. That’s the way it was for Spider-Man 3.

FSR: What was it that really drew you to that project in particular?

Andrew Stanton. I didn’t know anything about it and he wrote the part for me and was very straightforward. The script came to me a year ago, and I read it, and then they called me and they were like, “He really wants to talk to you.” And he was up…I don’t know if it is Marin County or wherever. His offices were at Pixar. And, you know, we had a great conversation about it and he was so flattering in telling me that he had written it for me. And then we talked again a little while later in the summer.

And, you know, just the idea of doing it was very appealing to me, because Andrew is an amazing guy. He couldn’t be more approachable, more funny, more intelligent, more successful. I mean he is just crazy successful. And the fact that I was talking to him on the phone about a character that he had written for me a week or maybe two weeks after he had won two Academy Awards, it was astounding to me that this guy was calling me, and was like, “Hey, I wrote this part for you.” And coming off of winning two Academy Awards for Wall-E. You know, it just was astounding.

And you gotta pay attention to those moments in your life. And we just kept talking and talking, and then I signed on. And then I started in January in England. I was over there for a couple of weeks. And then I had some time off. And then I go back, like I said, in a few weeks, and then I am on it for a while. Thank you. I say this without hesitation. I think it is going to be pretty huge.

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NY Mag.com ~ April 2, 2010
Do you have a sense yet of the look of the film, since technological questions were at the heart of so many of its fitful starts?

The only comparison I can make is Avatar. It’s live-action, CGI, and motion capture — all that stuff. I didn’t realize how excited people were about this movie, and that it’s been around for like 80 years — somebody was telling me they tried to mount the first production in 1930 or something. But it’s going to be fascinating, it really is. They don’t say don’t talk at all about it, but I want to be political. I’ll say this: My character is a badass warrior. There are tribes, and in my tribe he’s a very ferocious individual. 

Revenue and profits down at Pinewood Shepperton
guardian.co.uk ~ April 1, 2010
Warner built the set for Clash of the Titans at Longcross Studios, a former tank testing site in Surrey. MAP  The biggest shed at Longcross is comparable in size with Pinewood's flagship 007 stage, but costs 80% less to hire, though the producer has to bring all the fixtures, fittings and even the electricity.

Disney has now taken over Longcross to construct the enormous steel sets for its sci-fi adventure John Carter of Mars, which it hopes will become a franchise. It is also using a vast former Woolworths warehouse in Greenford.

LONGCROSS

John Carter of Mars is coming to Kane County
Southern Utah News ~ March 17, 2010
Utah Film Commissioners Marshall Moore and Mimi Davis Taylor [reported]: John Carter of Mars, a Disney production, is being filmed in Utah, with several locations in Kane County. A set is currently under construction in Mt. Carmel. Other sites include Big Water, Lake Powell, Moab, Hanksville and Delta. $27.7 million out of a total budget of $250 million will be spent in Utah. Disney plans a trilogy from the 12 books on the Chronicles of John Carter. The same people who did Avatar are behind this production. Big Water and Kanab will be production hubs. Moore said,“This will be a great experience to bring movies back to Kanab.”

 
Bryan Cranston on Andrew Stanton's JOHN CARTER OF MARS
Collider.com ~ March 9, 2010
Collider: You’re going to be in Andrew Stanton's John Carter of Mars.

Bryan Cranston: Yeah, I am. We already started shooting that. I shot for a week in London a couple weeks ago.

Collider: Can you talk about who you play in the film and are you excited to be in this huge movie?

Cranston: Very excited. I liked the script first and foremost. That’s why I went in to meet with Andrew. And then his infectious enthusiasm for the movie and for characters and it just….I caught his bug. And I said, yes, so I’ll be a part of it. I’ll do whatever you want me to do. And so I play, during the Civil War America time….this story takes place part-time Civil War America and Mars, which has no time. So my character is a Northern Colonel who is dogging John Carter to be a part of the government. We need his help. He’s an excellent tracker and marksman and that sort of thing. And in the Arizona Territories, the Apaches are running wild, so I need his help and he won't do it. He doesn't want to have anything to do with anything. His family was obliterated during the War. It was horrible and he wants to be a part of no man's government. So I keep after him and keep after him and track him down and have a conversation with him and have to use some physical force on him and he keeps breaking out and I keep tracking him down. And finally we end up in a cave and in this cave are some magical things that happen.  And that transports him and it's really quite fascinating and I look forward to it.

Collider: I'm so excited for this movie. Andrew's first live-action. You're on hiatus now and you're filming… now you just did the one week on John Carter, does that mean you're wrapped?

Cranston: No, I have 2 more weeks to go.  We'll pick that up in Utah in April.

Another Disney Mars Adventure  Disney will be spending quite a bit of time on Mars in the coming years. They've announced a release for the animated  Mars Needs Moms about a boy who travels to Mars to rescue his kidnapped mother. The first of its Martian riddled films, Mom, is slated for release on March 11, 2011, which will be about a year before John Carter. The film will be put together much in the same vein as The Polar Express which required polarized glasses for viewing.

 

Ciaran Hinds (Tardos Mors) talks John Carter

Steve "Frosty" Weintraub interviewed Ciaran Hinds for The Collider ~ February 25, 2010
Ciaran Hinds recently discussed his invovement with the upcoming Harry Potter and John Carter of Mars films. He plays Tardos Mors. Stanton was impressed by the imperial power that Hinds displayed in the film Rome. Hinds was impressed with Stanton and by the imagination and action in the John Carter script --  he describes it as bizarre and being full of wit, energy and drive. He has done his scenes in London but is scheduled for a day of shooting when the production moves to Utah. He suspects that Stanton will take the film in a whole new direction from Avatar. 

Have you shot John Carter of Mars yet?

Ciarán Hinds: They are shooting it at the moment. I have a small role in that. I have already shot on it for a couple of days. Then I go back to the set in March to shot for another six or eight days. I'm playing Tardos Mors, one of the leaders of Mars. I am the father of the female protagonist. She is played by Lynn Collins. Andrew Stanton is directing it. He shot Finding Nemo and Wall-E. Those wonderful films. He came to see a play that I was in at the National Theater in London. He had thought of me to play one kind of leader on Mars. It was a thrill to meet him knowing he'd made these classic films. Then he cast me in his next movie. Which has been great. He knows all about animation and computer generated effects. Now he is making a live-action film. I think it is a huge adventure for him. Goodness knows, the conundrums of actually making the film? I don't know about that stuff. It's just a great honor to be in it. To have him want me there.

Is it an all-green screen set? With everything being added in later?

Ciarán Hinds: Apparently so. It is very, very green. They have me off on another adventure in the film that I don't quite understand. And I hope I am of some use to Mr. Stanton.

More at Movie Web

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JAMES PUREFOY (KANTOS KAN) DISCUSSES JOHN CARTER An excerpt from a Total Film interview with James Purefoy, star of the upcoming Solomon Kane. In it he discusses Kane as well as John Carter Of Mars
. . .
T: How is John Carter Of Mars going? 
P: It’s a great project. Huge. There aren’t many bona fide geniuses working in our industry but Andrew Stanton is one of them… Wall-E and Finding Nemo are extraordinary. If you only look at him in terms of his storytelling skills, that’s enough – and on top of that, look at the beauty, the soul, the heart he puts into those films. It’s staggering what he achieves. Funnily enough, I don’t have much to do in the first film. I’ve taken this basically because they’ve said, “Your part gets bigger and bigger as the films go on.”

T: You’re playing a Red Martian named Kantos Kan, right? 
P: Yes, he’s a fighter pilot. He’s the captain of a massive naval airship so in the first film, I do a little bit of steering, a little bit of rescuing, shit like that. He’s quite flash, he has a few jokes – he’s like a naughty, sexy uncle. That’s the way I’ve been told to play it. 

T: Are you wearing a costume or a mocap suit? 
P: It’s not mocap with us [the Red Martians]. We’re humanoid, we’re in costumes, but there are other actors who are playing pure mocap characters. It's hard to talk about it because I don't really know what it's going to look like. So much of it is in Andrew's head and with his designers. We're on a real set but it’s surrounded by green screen so there’s going to be stuff out there that I have no idea what it is but I know it will be extraordinary. 

T: How would you describe your costume? 
P: Armour. [Laughs] It looks cool. It’s very Dan Dare.

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Another Purefoy Interview ~ with Film News film news: John Carter of Mars is another pulp movie based on a novel. How far along is that in development? 

James Purefoy: We're shooting. I shot two days last week. It's going to be gigantic.

film news: How has the success of Avatar affected it so far? 

James Purefoy: Well, it's a weird world they're creating in John Carter. It's not nearly as hi-tech. In the books, the ships that they use are powered by solar tails. So, that's a very different kind of thing, as opposed to rocket power. We don't have that level of technology; we have Martian technology on John Carter. 

I don't know what it's going to look like. It's all on a green screen.I'm reacting to stuff that Andrew is telling me. There's also some motion capture. But I don't really know, to be honest. I'm there at the studio, there's a set and beyond that it's green screen. So, it's a mixture. You have real people and then there's mo-cap, and then there's models and puppets. I loved District 9 and the mixture of what they managed to do with mo-cap and puppets and models and any available technology they could get to create that world... it was fantastic. Why Sharlto Copley wasn't nominated for an Oscar this year I'll never know. It was a genius performance. You could not see where it began and ended. I loved how my sympathy went towards him without knowing why it happened. 

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Utah draws production of a major film
The Denver Post ~ February 9, 2009
The strange geology of Arches National Park helped Walt Disney Studios decide on Moab as a site for filming "A Princess of Mars," based on a science- fiction story written in 1912. Thanks to a century-old sci-fi novel and a modern-day rebate, Utah is looking forward to an out-of-this-world economic boost of $60 million and about 400 temporary jobs this spring.

Walt Disney Studios scouted locations in southwest Colorado last summer for the upcoming film production of "A Princess of Mars," but ultimately chose the red rocks and white sands around Moab and the strange geology southwest of Lake Powell to make what will be the largest-budget movie ever filmed in Utah. Hopeful actors, extras and crew members are swamping the Moab to Monument Valley Film Commission with resumes. Hotels are looking forward to full houses. Restaurants, caterers, rental agencies, animal wranglers and other businesses are anticipating a film windfall. About $10 million of the $60 million that will be spent in Utah will go into coffers in Grand County. Filming of the movie has begun in London and will move to Utah in the spring. More>>>

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Disney plans to film new movie in Lake Powell area
Lake Powell Chronicle ~ February 2, 2010

BIG WATER – Barsoom Pictures is setting up camp in the Lake Powell area as it prepares to film the movie “John Carter of Mars” for Disney this spring. According to the “John Carter of Mars” official casting call from spoilertv.com, the movie will be directed by Andrew Stanton and will star Taylor Kitsch as John Carter and Willem Dafoe as Tars Tarkas.

When looking for possible places to film, location scouts for Barsoom Pictures discovered the gray shale lining of the canyons near the Grand Escalante Staircase and envisioned the area as the perfect backdrop for depicting scenes from Mars.
 

Michael Giacchino to write the score
Recent Oscar winner Michael Giacchino -- the composer who nabbed a gold statue for his Up score -- will return to the Disney fold when he handles the music for the currently shooting John Carter of Mars. His work includes Lost, Star Trek, Alias, Mission Impossible III and Up just to name a few. He is noted for mixing romance and excitement flawlessly, much like his mentor John Williams.

 
Disney Movie Jobs in Moab
MoabLife.com ~ January 15, 2010
Beginning in April, Disney Studios will film the science-fiction fantasy movie “John Carter of Mars” (also known as "A princess of Mars") in the Moab area. Preliminary work already is under way in London. Disney crew members scouted the world for a location resembling the reddish planet Mars. Film crews have been in Moab for more than a year, said Tara Penner, director of the Moab to Monument Valley Movie Commission.

The Disney cast and crew could pump nearly $60 million into the Moab-area economy during filming, which likely will take several months. In addition to filming the movie in eastern Utah, Disney plans to hire nearly 400 people to help with the movie in areas such as construction, security, and production and location assistance. Preference in hiring will be given to Utah residents, but residents from Western Colorado could be considered for jobs. People interested should immediately send a resume detailing previous movie experience to tara@moabcity.org.

For more details about the kind of jobs needed for the movie production, go to www.moabcity.org/filmcommission/production_directory.html.

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Also. . . from Uni-versal Extras
"I am or I look Mediterranean: For the all action feature film John Carter of Mars we are starting to cast men and women of all ages who look Mediterranean for a variety or roles!"

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Rock Doc lends helping hand on Disney blockbuster 
YourThanetNews.com ~ January 25, 2010
Hollywood giant Pixar has called on a Cliftonville couple to help it shoot its next blockbuster. Alasdair Bruce and his wife Kim, aka the Rock Doc team, have been advising the film crew working on John Carter of Mars, which is based on the books of Edgar Rice Burroughs. They helped out at one of the sets, a quarry in Dorset.

Director Andrew Stanton, who made some of Pixar’s best-received films such as Toy Story, Wall-E and Finding Nemo, is behind the movie. The film’s producers were keen to have the pair on set so Mr Stanton could call on their rocky knowledge and expertise in geology. They helped make sure that no damage was done to the site or to those working on location.

Dr Bruce said: “We were asked back while they did the filming to make sure all was well because it’s quite a dangerous place. 
There are a lot of loose pieces of rock and our job was to make sure no one went where they shouldn’t have been. It was health and safety meets geology, really, but good fun.”

The couple were asked to put together a report for the film but later asked along on location because of the nature of the site, which is a visually stunning spot that has been used for such TV shows such as Doctor Who, Torchwood and Blake’s Seven. “It was a very interesting experience,” said Dr Bruce. “The film has aliens called the Tharks and features Willem Defoe, among others, so perhaps we will meet some of the stars at some stage.  “It was tricky this time, though, as much of it is being done in CGI. The crew were eager to re-create the rocky landscape of Mars, called Barsoom in the Rice Borroughs (sic) books, as best they could. The film will mix live action and animation and is set to hit cinema screens in 2012.

This filming location is in the Winspit Quarry caves in Dorset, England. Quite likely this is for some of the earlier scenes where John Carter is being chased by Apache Indians and ends up in a mysterious cave. That is the starting point for him being transported to Mars. 

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Edgar Rice Burroughs Gets a 'John Carter' Cameo
January 18, 2010
Disney released an official statement today that announced some intriguing additions to the cast and crew. Ciaran Hinds has been added in an unknown part, and Disney proto-talent Daryl Sabara has been cast as a teenage Edgar Rice Burroughs. 

John Carter travels back to Earth, where he narrates his adventures to Burroughs, who's his nephew. Young Burroughs grows up to become the famous pulp author. The use of a narrator makes sense since the Mars books are all in first person and are quite detail oriented. 

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WALT DISNEY PICTURES' "JOHN CARTER OF MARS" 
BEGINS PRINCIPAL PHOTOGRAPHY IN LONDON
BURBANK, Calif. (January 15, 2010) - Principal photography is underway in London for Walt Disney Pictures' "JOHN CARTER OF MARS." Academy Award®-winning filmmaker Andrew Stanton brings this captivating hero to the big screen in a stunning adventure epic set on the wounded planet of Mars, a world inhabited by warrior tribes and exotic desert beings. Based on the first of Edgar Rice Burroughs' "Barsoom Series," the film chronicles the journey of Civil-War veteran John Carter, who finds himself battling a new and mysterious war amidst a host of strange Martian inhabitants. 

Produced for Walt Disney Pictures by Jim Morris ("WALL•E," "Ratatouille") and Colin Wilson ("Avatar," "War of the Worlds"), the live action/animation film marks Academy Award®-winning director/writer Andrew Stanton's ("Finding Nemo," "WALL•E") first foray into live action. Stanton directed and co-wrote the screenplay for Disney•Pixar's "WALL•E," which earned the Academy Award and Golden Globe® for Best Animated Feature (2008); Stanton was nominated for an Oscar® for the screenplay. 

"I have been waiting my whole life to see the characters and worlds of 'John Carter of Mars' realized on the big screen," says Stanton. "It is just a wonderful bonus that I have anything to do with it."

The stellar ensemble cast is led by Taylor Kitsch (NBC'S "Friday Night Lights", "X-Men Origins: Wolverine") in the title role, Lynn Collins ("50 First Dates," "X-Men Origins: Wolverine") as the warrior princess Dejah Thoris and Oscar® nominee Willem Dafoe ("Spider-Man 3," "Shadow of a Vampire") as Martian inhabitant Tars Tarkas. The cast also includes Thomas Haden Church ("Sideways," Spider-Man 3), Polly Walker (upcoming "Clash of the Titans," "Patriot Games"), Samantha Morton ("Elizabeth: The Golden Age," "In America"), Mark Strong ("Sherlock Holmes," "Body of Lies"), Ciaran Hinds ("Munich," "There Will Be Blood"), British actor Dominic West ("300," "Chicago"), James Purefoy ("Vanity Fair," "Resident Evil") and Bryan Cranston ("Breaking Bad"). Daryl Sabara ("Disney's A Christmas Carol," "Spy Kids") takes the role of John Carter's teenaged nephew, Edgar Rice Burroughs.

The creative team includes Oscar®-nominated production designer Nathan Crowley ("Public Enemies," "The Dark Knight," "Batman Begins"), costume designer Mayes Rubeo ("Avatar," "Apocalypto"), cinematographer Daniel Mindel ("Star Trek," "Mission Impossible III," "Spygame") and video effects supervisor Peter Chiang ("The Reader," "The Bourne Ultimatum").

Bryan Cranston heading to 'Mars'
January 13, 2010

 "Breaking Bad" star Bryan Cranston has joined the cast of Walt Disney's "John Carter of Mars" which goes before cameras next week. 

Cranston plays a Civil War colonel who comes into conflict with Carter. 

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Avatar Screenplay Available for Free Download from Fox
Fox Studios has made James Cameron’s original Avatar Screenplay available for free download online.  There are some pretty substantial differences, at least at the beginning, from the version that is playing in theaters.   The screenplay, for example, features a number of scenes building up Jake Sully’s backstory a bit more.  DOWNLOAD HERE: 

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Becoming a giant green alien in John Carter of Mars
SciFi Wire
Polly Walker, who will soon co-star in Syfy's upcoming Caprica, will also appear in the live-action film adaptation of Edgar Rice Burroughs' John Carter of Mars series, and she let us in on her preparations for the role of a four-armed, 900-year-old. giant green Martian "Thark."

"I'm going to Thark camp, so I'm going to find out," Walker said in an exclusive interview in Pasadena, Calif., on Sunday, where she was promoting Caprica. "I only start next week. I can't wait. I've got to learn the whole physicality of it. I suppose they're creating that kind of world, so I'm going to find out, but it should be cool."
"It's going to be amazing," Walker said. "I'm like a 9-and-a-half-foot green alien. She's sort of the queen bee of the tribe, and she's incredibly tough." Walker expects that part of Thark boot camp will involve learning the technical process that will transform her into Sarkoja. "I think, apart from Thark camp, I have to go be stilt-walking and things like that," Walker said. "So it's a physical process."

So far, Walker has not read any of the John Carter books yet, but she plans to before filming. "To be honest, I've not had an opportunity, just because I've been so entrenched in [Caprica], but I'm going to do my homework when I go over there, because it's iconic, isn't it?" The British actor may also have to modify her voice to play a Thark. "I don't know what my Thark accent is yet. I'm going to work on that. I think there is going to be an accent there."

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Willem Dafoe Gears Up To Start Making John Carter
SciFi Soundtrack ~ January 6, 2010 What was the appeal in doing John Carter of Mars?
Andrew Stanton, the material, the idea that I'm going to play a 10-foot Martian Warrior. I live very much in the independent cinema world, which is great and that's where we find a lot of great filmmakers and sometimes more freedom to make personal films. But the flip side of that is, sometimes there isn't a lot of protection or care. There may be an emotional rigor, but sometimes you don't have the the technical stuff to work with. You can have lousy lighting [and] no time to prepare properly. You are very vulnerable.

When someone asks you to make a movie directed by Andrew Stanton, with Disney behind, a big tent-pole movie... I know from making Finding Nemo how these Pixar guys work. They're very thorough , they're very rigorous, they really get it. It's a real pleasure because you get so protected because they are so well researched. And you get so much help trying to make something. I think I got excited about that. I like to go back and forth, but it was time to do a big movie again.

Have you read the book?
I haven't but I'd read Princess of Mars, and I'll probably read some of the others.

Has Andrew talked to you about how they are going to film [your character's] four arms?
I saw him recently because we start in London, for studio stuff. I start next week... He showed me some samples, just so I can understand what I'm in for. Mostly about ideas about how they are going to film these creatures next to human beings. Because we do play the scenes, it's not like some people's fantasies where they put you in a room and they sample you and they go off and they do this computer magic, and no one ever plays a scene — it's not like that. We're going to play these scenes. He showed me the different variations of how they will shoot it, the kind of equipment I'll have to wear, the different times I won't have to wear certain kinds of equipment and all that.

Are you going to have to wear two extra prosthetic arms?
I'm not telling. And you know what, I can't talk that much about it, because I don't know yet. We don't even start shooting next week it's part of prep, I go to London and we do the things that we need to do to know how to start this project... I think officially production starts the 18th.

Will you be working on a special voice for the character?
We're always working on a special voice.

 

"John Carter" Team Visits Tarzana
Pre-production for the Disney "John Carter of Mars" film is gathering steam

Tarzana, CA: October 2, 2007
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. Projected release date is sometime before 2012.

Danton Burroughs presented the creative team with a wealth of resources, including art samples and books by ERB scholars such as Irwin Porges and John F. Roy. They noted that their major resource to date had been the thousands of official ERB, Inc. Webpages and Webzines.

~ Bill Hillman