Tag Archives: John Carter of Mars

John Carter footage shown at D23

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[adrotate banner=”1″]If you were lucky/connected enough to get to go to D23 Expo – Disney’s showoff party for their D23 fanclub – then you got to see some footage from the new John Carter (of Mars, dammit!) movie. Reports are on both io9 and AICN, but as both of those sites seem to be competing on who can mindlessly love everything ever even slightly nerdy, take their enthusiasm with a grain of bitter reality. Luckily, AICN’s report is by Quint, the least impressed by shiny things of the writers there.

Taylor Kitsch, Willem Dafoe and Lynn Collins were with director Andrew Stanton as he showed the footage.

AICN sez:

I still have the same basic problem with footage I’ve already seen (in that Mars isn’t nearly fantastic enough…

…

However Woola’s introduction scene they showed today is the very first thing I’ve seen from Stanton’s John Carter that I love without reservation.

The rest of the footage they described back in July, around the same time others got first looks.

io9 sez:

Before Stanton and the actors left the D23 stage, they played one last bit of footage. Carter and Tarkas finds themsleves in a Thark arena about to be executed. Tarkas is badly injured and Carter’s leg is chained to a rock. A colossal, six-limbed white ape is then released. It charges them, swatting them out of the way like gnats. Carter recovers and starts leaping over the white ape. He seems about ready to break the chain tying him to the rock, which is when a rather bored-sounding Thark in the stands declares, “Release the other one.”

You can read the links for full descriptions.

Dejah Thoris Lynn Collins

D23? I haven't seen the first 22 D's!

John Carter of Teaser Trailer

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[adrotate banner=”1″]Yes, John Carter (formerly of Mars) is trailerized! We get our first look at John Carter, Dejah Thoris, Mars/Barsoom, Tharks, the airships, and glimpses of the Red Martians. Taylor Kitsch is John Carter and Lynn Collins is Dejah Thoris. The trailer is not overwhelming, but it doesn’t look terrible.

Here is some stills I ganked from io9 because the direct downloads on Apple’s page are not working atm. Click for huge!
John Carter Dejah Thoris
John Carter Tars Tarkas Thark
Dejah Thoris

John Carter editing room visit

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[adrotate banner=”1″]io9 got to visit the editing room for John Carter (formerly of Mars) and meet with director Andrew Stanton, and the accompanying article is worthy enough that I’m actually going to link to io9 again. Despite giving us yet another reason why the movie changed its title, the information about the Tharks, Woola, the white apes, and the general feel of the film are awesome, and even looking through io9’s normal fanboy glaze, there appears to be some awesome stuff afoot. Here’s hoping it pays off!
John Carter

John Carter concept art

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[adrotate banner=”1″]Concept art from John Carter (formerly John Carter of Mars) appeared in an interview with writer/director Andrew Stanton in the LA Times. He talks about his love for the books as a kid, the trouble o translating a serial novel into film, treating the film as an historical epic, and even mentions the Guide to Barsoom book (which I have because I’m awesome). There will also be no John Carter at Comicon because Stanton didn’t want to be drown out in all the noise. The interview is pretty good, and feast your eyes on these images!
John Carter concept art
John Carter concept art

John Carter of Mars has lost his Mars

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[adrotate banner=”1″]And now it’s just John Carter. Why? Why do something so dumb? Why take the scifi out of your big scifi spectacle? Well, there are several possible reasons:

1- Some suit at Disney thinks that they must remove “of Mars” to prevent association with the film Mars Needs Moms, which went all Fat Man and Little Boy at the box office. I can just imagine the idiotic executive, with not a lick of movie making experience in his body, foolishly believing that the reason Mars Needs Moms failed was because of Mars, and not because the story sounded dumb and the aliens looked so hideous people actually ripped off their balls so they wouldn’t father children who would be forced to live in a world where they might see the alien design on this film. The same suit doesn’t see a problem with John Carter being a former Confederate soldier.

2- As A Princess of Mars is public domain, and the compromise name John Carter of Mars isn’t in the US (but is somewhere overseas, IIRC), Disney decided to just go with John Carter because it would be easier to trademark. That sentiment is sort of weird when you remember that ER had a character named John Carter for over a decade, there’s a lunatic congressman named John Carter, and the name John Carter is so common I’ve met several. Maybe they’re hoping people think this is about Jimmy Carter’s secret other brother, the one who didn’t make beer.

3- They plan to fuck with the story so much John Carter goes to a different planet each movie! This would be an incredibly stupid idea, but, this is Hollywood and they did remove “of Mars” from the title.

Of course, there is still a whole year to go, and John Carter of Mars will probably have another six titles by then (and be known in Japan as “Super Hoppy White Devil Man vs. Green Spider Monkey”)


More images here