Screen Rant » john carter of mars

Willem Dafoe Talks John Carter of Mars & His Character

Rob Keyes — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 11:26:41 +0000

Not long after the announcement that Taylor Kitsch and Lynn Collins were cast in the lead roles in the upcoming adaptation of John Carter of Mars, Edgar Rice Burroughs’ series of novels, we found out the talented Willem Dafoe would be playing an important character in the film(s) as well.

At the time, we knew that Dafoe would be playing the role of Tars Tarkas, a big green Martian who eventually befriends the Kitsch’s John Carter, after an unfriendly beginning to their relationship. Tarkas is a warrior and leader of his people and a very unique one at that because he, against the laws and norms of his society, shows compassion and sympathy, and even had a child secretly with the woman he loved (child bearing is a major criminal offense of his people) – he actually believes war isn’t the answer for his kind.

Dafoe spoke recently about the early stages of development for the production and his character – check it out after the jump.

Capone at Ain’t It Cool News spoke with Dafoe recently and they touched on the topic of John Carter. Here are some highlights of what was said, starting with their thoughts on Disney, Pixar and director Andrew Stanton:

“But, you’ve heard about it [Pixar Studios]. You must go. Get an excuse to go! I mean, I guess everything’s changing for them. This is Disney, anyway, but it’s Andrew Stanton. And, I’ve seen a lot of the designs and things, and I’ve just started to do prep work now. I’m doing a play in New York, so I’m kind of preoccupied by that, but I’m starting doing scans and things like that, but it’s going to be a real full-on… Well, I’m nine feet tall with four arms, but, just from the scheduling, I’m going to do the stuff.”

A nine-foot tall four-armed green alien… believe it or not, that ain’t weird for Dafoe.

Will the CGI and make-up capture his facial expressions and allow him to emote?

“Well, we hope. And, also, they’ll use my face, but they’ll enhance it in a way–both after and before–in a way that I may not be recognizable. But, I’m good with that. It’s particularly cool, because he’s a creature, but he’s got this huge range of character. And, he does cool things in the movies.”

Will he be talking Alien? Have they figured out what voice or dialect will be used for the Thark people?

“No, but there’s a whole period where we’re going to work with the language and the movement, and find out how I’m going to be nine feet tall, and all that stuff…like, a long period of time where we’re going to go to Thark school, you know what I mean? We’re going to create our culture. So, it’s going to be very cool. These guys know how to do this, and they’ve got great people. And, the designs and things are just mind-blowing.”

Dafoe also confirmed that the movie will be a combination of live-action and heavy CGI, something that was already hinted at during the casting announcements.

The films are said to mesh live-action and computer-based animation together in a way similar to what James Cameron has done with his eagerly anticipated Avatar. With Disney and Pixar behind the project and the promise of a series of movies on the same scale of Pirates of the Caribbean, I have high hopes for John Carter of Mars and what it will eventually look like on screen.

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John Carter of Mars Cast Grows Stronger

Rob Keyes — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 02:00:13 +0000

The Disney adaptation of Edgar Rice Burroughs’ series of novels, John Carter of Mars, and hopeful trilogy of films said to be comparable in scale to Pirates of the Caribbean, has added another three major members to its cast.

If you’re excited about this project already then you should be ecstatic to hear that Mark Strong, James Purefoy and Thomas Haden Church have all signed on for the film.

Let’s go through the cast members we know of so far…

Back in June after the success of X-Men Origins: Wolverine at the box office, two of its supporting actors were picked up to play the leading lad and lady for the upcoming epic trilogy of John Carter of Mars movies.

Those two actors were of course Taylor Kitsch who will be playing the title character and Lynn Collins will play Dejah Thoris, the damsel in distress and heir to the throne of Mars’ Helium kingdom.

A mere two days later, Thomas Haden Church hinted on a talk show that he was in talks for the project and now that speculation has come to fruition.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, three talented men have officially joined the cast of John Carter of Mars: Mark Strong (Sherlock Holmes), James Purefoy (Solomon Kane), and of course, Thomas Haden Church (Spider-Man 3).

Thomas Haden Church will reportedly play Tal Hajus, a Thark warrior who’s ambitious to take over and rule himself. Purefoy will play Kantos Kan, the captain of the Xavarian, the kingdom of Helium’s grand warship and Strong will play Matai Shang, the godlike ruler of the Thems.

I’m huge fan of all three of these actors and their additions to the cast make me very excited for the movie. They also join another one of my favorites in Willem Dafoe who was also announced as part of the cast back in June in the same week as the other two announcements mentioned above.

This growing group of talent will also share screen time with Dominic West, Samantha Morton and Polly Walker who joined the cast a few weeks back.

What do you think of the cast of John Carter of Mars?

Directed by Andrew Stanton, John Carter of Mars is tentatively scheduled to debut in 2012.

Source: THR

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John Carter of Mars Adds Three

Kofi Outlaw — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 16:07:01 +0000

The cast of Disney’s big-screen adaptation of Edgar Rice Burroughs’ John Carter of Mars keeps on growing, adding three English (read: talented) actors to the roster. Joining John Carter of Mars will be Dominic West (The Wire, 300), Samantha Morton (In America) and Polly Walker (HBO’s Rome).

The three English actors join Willem DaFoe, (supposedly) Thomas Hayden Church and Wolverine stars Taylor Kitsch and Lynn Collins (Gambit and Silver Fox), who will be playing lead characters John Carter and his love interest, Mars princess Dejah Thoris.

According to The Hollywood Reporter: “Morton will play Sola, the daughter of Tars Tarkas (DaFoe), who must hide her softer side from her warmongering race. West plays Sab Than, prince of the Zodangans who believes he is entitled to rule Mars. Walker plays Sarkoja, a merciless, tyrannical Thark.”

Writer/Producer/Director Andrew Stanton (Finding Nemo, Wall-E) will be making his live-action directorial debut; the script was co-written by Stanton and Mark Andrews, with acclaimed novelist Michael Chabon (Wonder Boys) turning in a recent rewrite. John Carter of Mars is expected to mix live-action and CGI Martian creatures, and will be a PG-13 epic adventure/fantasy, which is expected to (hopefully) kick-off a trilogy.

Morton, West & Walker

So far I’m good with the cast of this film. The casting agents have successfully managed to avoid “Channing Tatum Syndrome” – i.e., casting an actor and/or actress that immediately lowers the stock of the film in people’s minds. HBO fans are especially familiar with West and Walker from their stints on The Wire and Rome respectively, and the strong impressions both actors made on those shows. (I still remember the first seconds of Rome’s first episode featuring Walker in the buff. Ooo la la!)

John Carter of Mars is reportedly set to start filming this November for release in 2012.

Source: THR via Slash Film

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Willem Dafoe To Play Another Green Dude In ‘John Carter of Mars’

Rob Keyes — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 05:18:20 +0000

Another casting announcement for the upcoming film adaptation of John Carter of Mars was released today, adding Willem Dafoe’s name to the cast.

Last month we heard the first big casting decisions for the movie which included Canadian actor Taylor Kitsch alongside Lynn Collins (both of whom were a part of X-Men Origins: Wolverine earlier this summer) as the leads.

Shortly after that, Thomas Haden Church openly revealed in a video interview that he’d probably be playing a “very dramatic role” in John Carter of Mars which has yet to be confirmed.

Dafoe will be playing the role of Tars Tarkas, a green Martian who eventually befriends the protagonist, John Carter, after an unfriendly beginning to their relationship. Tarkas is a warrior and leader of his people and a very unique one at that because he, against the laws and norms of his society, shows compassion and sympathy, and even had a child secretly with the woman he loved (child bearing is a major criminal offense).

A green Martian sounds perfect for the actor well-known for playing the Green Goblin in the Spider-Man film franchise. Speaking of Marvel film characters, four of the actors we’ve heard associated with the movie are all featured as prominent characters in recent Marvel films.

Continuing the trend of casting Marvel heroes and villains, we may now have two from Fox’s X-Men franchise and two from Sony’s Spider-Man franchise. All we need are two from Marvel Studios’ franchises and we’d have some balanced coverage.

I’m a big fan of Dafoe and I think he’s incredibly talented. Adding him to the cast of this movie only helps it in my opinion and from what I’ve read of the role he’ll be playing, he’s a perfect fit.

The film will be directed by Andrew Stanton and is based on Edgar Rice Burroughs’ classic series of science fiction novels. Shooting begins in Utah this November.

What do you think of the cast thus far?

John Carter of Mars will likely open in 2012 and is set to start filming this November.

Source: THR

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Thomas Haden Church Joins John Carter of Mars?

Rob Keyes — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 17:33:45 +0000

It’s just your average Marvel character party this week. Sandman, Gambit and Silver Fox who were featured in Spider-Man 3 and X-Men Origins: Wolverine respectively will probably be hanging out on Mars come November.

It appears that Thomas Haden Church will likely be playing a part in John Carter of Mars, the upcoming film adaptation of Edgar Rice Burroughs’ classic series of science fiction novels. If confirmed, Church will be joining Taylor Kitsch and Lynn Collins who were just announced to be playing the lead roles in the movie.

According to Thomas Haden Church in a video interview with Reel Talk, he had this to say in response to a question about picking and choosing projects back and forth between dramatic roles and comedic ones:

“I’m probably going to do a huge science fiction drama at Disney called ‘John Carter of Mars’ and that’s a very dramatic role”

Sounds good to me.

Church is a great actor with a great voice and I’ll be happy to see him join the cast alongside Canadian actor Taylor Kitsch and Lynn Collins. There’s no word yet on who he’ll be playing in the film but as soon as we find out, we’ll let you know.

To see the full interview for yourself, head over to Reel Talk

As for the film’s production, we’ve continually heard that this is Disney’s next major franchise. The film is to be directed by Andrew Stanton and is set to start production this November. Shooting will take place in Utah thanks to a recently approved $5.5 million tax credit. Stanton is choosing this location for filming to have it feel more real and avoid the aesthetic set up in films like Star Wars.

What do you think of the cast of John Carter of Mars thus far?

Source: Reel Talk, /Film

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Gambit & Silver Fox Join ‘John Carter of Mars’

Rob Keyes — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 00:54:45 +0000

Two X-mutants are heading to Mars!

Taylor Kitsch who played Gambit along with Lynn Collins who played Silver Fox in last month’s X-Men Origins: Wolverine have both been added to the cast of the upcoming John Carter of Mars film adaptation based on Edgar Rice Burroughs’ series of novels.

It looks like playing Gambit was the young Canadian actor’s breakthrough role as it helped land him the title role in this big budget film (and possible trilogy). Collins will be playing Dejah Thoris, the damsel in distress and heir to the throne of Mars’ Helium kingdom. She is of course the love interest of John Carter.

Directing the film is Andrew Stanton who will be making his debut into live-action with this project. The film will be absolutely littered with CGI effects to bring to life the various creatures depicted in the stories so he won’t be straying too far off the track he set with Wall-E and Finding Nemo.

The film will be rated PG-13 and is hoped to kick off a franchise of blockbusters similar to the size and scale of Pirates of the Caribbean. If this is a success (which I hope it is) Taylor will be hitting it big time and it will help build him a hefty profile which my lead to him getting that Gambit solo film that’s been widely speculated for some time. Up until this point, that film was the least likely of the potential spin-off films by Fox Studios because of Taylor not being very well-known or bankable as of yet. That looks to be changing with this news.

The last we heard on the John Carter of Mars film project prior to today was that screenwriter and novelist Michael Chabon had been hired to help do some revisions on the “already strong script.” With major casting announcements confirmed today, we can expect to see some more major movement on this project and maybe some updates at next month’s Comic-Con. For more information on the film and what the director had to say about it back in January, check out our article on Andrew Stanton discussing the project.

John Carter of Mars will likely open in 2012 and is set to start filming this November.

Source: THR

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Mid-Week Movie News Wrap Up – April 17, 2009

Niall Browne — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 14:11:13 +0000

In this Weeks spell check busting installment: Matthew McConaughey is an Exchange Student; Heffalump writer Spiliotopoulos will write Bekmambetov’s Wanted 2 – will Angelina Jolie be involved? Megan Fox is Crossing over; John Carter of Mars is Chabon and which one of the Watchmen has Morning Glory for Star Trek’s Abram?

1. Matthew McConaughey’s production company J.K. Livin is producing a comedy called Exchange Student. According to The Hollywood Reporter:

“The story revolves around two exchange students, one who ships out from the U.S. and one who comes in, who experience new environments in very different ways: One has the time of his life, the other goes off the rails. The tenor of the project is described as a family comedy with wry overtones a la Wes Anderson.”

Mike Vukadinovich will write a script from the idea that originated with “Bongos” McConaughey, who may also take a role in the film.

The Sahara star will next be seen in Ghosts of Girlfriends Past opposite Jennifer Garner.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

2. Evan Spiliotopoulos will write the sequel to last years surprise smash Wanted.
The writer who previously wrote Pooh’s Heffalump Movie will take over writing duties from Michael Brandt and Derek Haas and Chris Morgan.

The Timur Bekmambetov directed film was based on a comic by Mark Millar and J.G. Jones.

The main question is will Angelina Jolie be written into the script or will it focus on James McAvoy’s blossoming hitman career?

I’d expect every effort be made to have Jolie return – but they might just have another actress star opposite McAvoy.

Megan Fox anyone?

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

3. Speaking of Megan Fox, the actress will take the lead role in The Crossing.

“(In the film) a couple returning from a Mexican vacation is carjacked and the husband kidnapped. The wife (Fox) must smuggle heroin across the border in order to spring him.”

No director is yet attached to the Screen Gems production, but several directors have met with the producers. If one is hired soon then the film might start shooting by July.

Megan Fox has a busy year ahead with Passion Plays with Mickey Rourke; Josh Brolin’s Jonah Hex and Fathom all on the way.

She’ll next be seen in low budget art house drama Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.

Source: Hollywood Reporter

4. Screenwriter and Novelist Michael Chabon is doing a rewrite on John Carter of Mars for Disney.
Chabon said:

“I’ve been hired to do some revisions to an already strong script by Andrew Stanton and Mark Andrews. I wrote my original screenplay The Martian Agent back in 1995 because I wished I could do (Edgar Rice) Burroughs’s Barsoom. So this is pretty much a dream come true for me.”

Andrew Stanton is slated to direct the film which could be released in 2012.

Source: Sugarbombs.com

5. Watchmen star Patrick Wilson has joined the cast of Morning Glory. Wilson will join the stellar line-up of Harrison Ford, Diane Keaton, Rachel McAdams and Jeff Goldblum in the J.J Abrams produced comedy.

Morning Glory is the story of two warring television anchors (Ford and Keaton) who host a morning television show. McAdams is the producer brought in to try and sooth them and boost ratings. Wilson will play her romantic interest.

The Roger Michell directed comedy will start shooting in New York next month.

Abrams’ Star Trek opens on May 8th.

Source: Variety

That’s it for now. See you at the movies!

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‘WALL-E’ Director Talks ‘John Carter of Mars’

Ross Miller — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 19:44:41 +0000

Way back in the summer of last year, Screen Rant reported (as an update) that the project John Carter of Mars wasn’t likely to start getting made for a long time, since at that time they hadn’t even decided on what form it would take – animation, live-action or a mixture of both.

But things seem to now be steamrolling ahead as WALL-E director Andrew Stanton revealed in a recent interview with SciFi Wire.

[I'm] deep into it,” Stanton said in an exclusive interview at the Los Angeles Film Critics Association award ceremony in Century City, Calif., on Monday, where he accepted the award for best picture of 2008 for WALL-E. “I’m on my next draft of it. We’re in pre-production art-wise, and we’re starting to talk to actors. So it’s full bore.

And as to the question of what form the film will take, Stanton has thankfully answered it:

Yeah, I think [live-action] that’s the only way,” he said. “I mean, there are so many creatures and characters that half of it’s going to be CG whether you want it to be [or not], just to realize some of these images that are in the book. But it will feel real. The whole thing will feel very, very believable.

Other information revealed by Stanton is that the film will most likely be PG-13 and that the script is intended to be no more than 120 pages (which constitutes roughly two hours of screen time).

It’s always great to see a project that has been in development hell for years finally moving forward into and beyond the development stages. And after reading the story outline for it (given below), John Carter of Mars has the potential to be one hell of a fun ride!

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.

Although the Mars novels written by Tarzan creator Edgar Rice Burroughs have been around for years, I can honestly say that I’ve never heard a plot for a movie quite like this in a long time (if ever!)…

What’s most interesting about these details is that it will be live-action and not animated, as expected. As Stanton mentions they’ll have to employ a truckload of CGI to bring this story to life – it’s almost like they want to set themselves a challenge by taking the route more difficult to achieve. But then, isn’t that how the best films end up getting made?

It’s also interesting to note that it’s not Pixar who’s behind the project alongside Stanton, but Disney. However, that doesn’t mean any less effort is going to be put into it – Stanton is known, as all of the Pixar directors are, for putting in a full effort; not just directing the project but helping to develop it from printed word and basic designs right up to its debut on the big-screen. And this is definitely a project that deserves a full effort, IMO.

John Carter of Mars is set for a 2012 release. Are you glad that it is finally getting made and that it’ll be live-action instead of animated? Or were you hoping the filmmakers would go in another direction?

Source: SciFiWire and IMDB

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John Carter Of Mars Update

Niall Browne — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 18:23:34 +0000

I hope that you are not holding your breath for the upcoming adaptation of Edgar Rice Burroughs’ John Carter of Mars. The reason – well they won’t even know if the film will be live action, animated or a mixture of both techniques for another year!

Andrew Stanton, the writer-director of the upcoming Wall-E says:

“Everybody’s asking that, and we are not going to make that decision for about a year.”

Man, how long has this thing been in development?

Robert Rodriguez, John Favreau and Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow’s Kerry Conran have all been attached to direct the film that would follow the adventures of John Carter, a Civil War hero who becomes transported to Mars.

Gee, I always wondered why they called it John Carter of Mars!

Will this film ever be made?

It’ll probably see the light of day at some point, but films like this take a long time to get right – just look at Speed Racer, that took about twenty years to hit the big screen. Okay, maybe that was a bad example but you see what I’m getting at.

Stanton also says :

“I’m definitely writing it … with Mark Andrews, and that’s all we’re doing right now, is just writing it.”

It looks like the film is moving ahead, but it does not bode well at this point if they don’t know what form the film will take. It’ll more than likely be animnation (not the traditional kind) or at the very least a mixture of live action and animation – going by Stanton’s track record. Which slightly irks me, as I would like to see this baby in live action.

Maybe, I’ll get my wish, but I’ll have to wait for a year to find out.

More details as we get them.

Source: Scfi.com

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Chronicles Of Narnia Out, John Carter In?

Jamie Williams — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 00:00:36 +0000

[UPDATE: Disney has notified us that they do indeed plan on bringing ALL the remaining Chronicles of Narnia movies to the big screen. According to them the source on this is completely wrong. - Vic]

We knew it was in development. But according to our buddies at Jim Hill Media, Disney and Pixar are moving forward with a film-trilogy based on Edgar Rice Burroughs’ John Carter of Mars series for 2012 at the earliest… if not sooner than that.

Mark Andrews (Oscar-nominated screenwriter of Ratatouille) has already written a draft that both Disney and Pixar executives went bonkers over; crazy enough that they’re seriously wanting this to become their next big franchise instead of adapting all seven Chronicles of Narnia books(!?!)

The second Narnia installment Prince Caspian will open this coming May with the third outing, and Voyage of the Dawn Treader slated for a May 2010 release. ~~Beyond that, there are no current plans to bring the remaining four novels to the silver screen. In fact, Dawn Treader might even be in jeopardy unless Caspian does killer box-office.~~

Now I can’t comment on the John Carter of Mars novels since I’ve never read them (although I’ve only heard great things). But I do think placing Narnia in the summer instead of the more-reliable Christmas release is questionable… at best.

I don’t doubt there is some truth to this. The further they go along with the Narnia films; they’ll get more-and-more expensive. But as long as they make solid box-office numbers, Disney will continue to churn them out. This is the Mouse we’re talking about here, folks!

Source: Jim Hill Media

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Movie News Grab Bag

Vic Holtreman — Tue, 09 Oct 2007 15:46:12 +0000

A guy just can’t take a vacation around here… leave for a few days and ya miss a boatload of movie news. So here’s a quick summary of a few items worth noting:

- Yahoo! Movies has a trailer up for Slipstream, a time travel movie directed by and starring Anthony Hopkins. It looks interesting but I’ll be damned if I can tell what the story is from the trailer. Maybe that’s the point…

- It seems that Brett Ratner will be directing the remake of Escape from New York. Uh oh.

- Vin Diesel as the Terminator directed by McG? I suppose that half of that is good news… And sorry, I just wasn’t in the mood to do one of those half Terminator/half Vin Diesel photoshop jobs that everyone else has attached to this story.

- The Heartbreak Kid is getting killed at the box office and by critics. It got it’s butt kicked by Disney’s The Game which is in it’s second week. As of right now it’s scoring about 30% positive over at Rotten Tomatoes. It’s from the same guys who brought us There’s Something About Mary, and no, the critics aren’t being high-brow on this: The latter scores 80% over at RT.

- The trailer for Sweeny Todd starring Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter is out. Call me a killjoy but I predict box office doom for this one, even if it turns out to be interesting. There was one brief scene in the trailer that indicated to me this might turn out to be a musical, which is the kiss of death for a modern movie. Audiences just don’t buy the concept any more.

- George Lucas says that Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (yeesh, I had to look that title up because I can’t even remember it) will be as good as Raiders of the Lost Ark. Hey George, I think we’ll be the judge (cough, Phantom Menace, cough) of that.

- Pixar doing a CGI version of John Carter of Mars? Where do I sign up?

- The Thor movie as it is currently written would cost $300 million, and Marvel wants director Matthew Vaughn to trim half of that from the budget. Hmm… maybe they can just reuse styrofoam cups for coffee instead of getting a new cup every time? That should do it.

- Serenity 2? I doubt it, although I absolutely loved Serenity.

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