After years of the Frazetta and Whelan covers of the novels, I can easily see both of these actors in those roles; as long as they can carry the material, they definitely look like great choices . I'm still curious how much of a role, if any, Pixar may even play in this; since it began, they've been careful to say that they don't intend to change from what they do best, which is create story-driven CGI-animated films. They'd certainly be good for the VFX of this project, but I could see them stepping back and letting an existing digital house do the CGI, while Disney (or Touchstone, more likely) handles the production and distribution. I don't think we'll see "Pixar" in the credits for John Carter.
I need to go read the first few books then. I think my library has the first three in a single volume. This is good news for sci-fi overall.
Maybe they're planning on broadening their horizons. But as long as it's good, I don't care. I hope they plan on being faithful to the source material.
The fact that they got Michael Chabon to polish the script gives me hope - they're clearly taking this seriously. The guy has won a Pulitzer, a Hugo and a Nebula award - somebody thinks he's more than just a scriptwriter, and he's got science fiction chops as well as mainstream credibility .
Kitsch has a bit of a generic "square jaw" look, not that thrilled about him, but Collins is interesting for Dejah Thoris. Her looks match the role, even tho I sort of expected a mixed-race actress, or someone of un-identifiable ethic background.
She was as destitute of clothes as the green Martians who accompanied her; indeed, save for her highly wrought ornaments she was entirely naked, nor could any apparel have enhanced the beauty of her perfect and symmetrical figure. Too bad this is Disney
Yeah, they're likely to get the violence right, but not the nudity. What a world. I'm not familiar with Michael Chabon, but a quick skim of his Wiki page made me smile; he seems to have a similar attitude toward writing as I do.
Edgar Rice Burroughs' Mars novels are among the greatest science fantasy adventure stories of all time. They've inspired artists and writers from Howard to Henlein to Roddenberry to Lucas, among others. I'm a fan (obviously); I'm hoping that they do as good a job with the Barsoom stories as Jackson did with Middle Earth.
It's important to note that you should read A Princess of Mars, since that is the book on which the movie is based. John Carter of Mars was the end of the series and, IMO, a lesser book.
"John Carter of Mars" is actually two different stories together in one volume. The first, "John Carter and the Giant of Mars", was originally intended as a juvenile story, and it shows. Although Burroughs eventually published this as a 'straight' Mars story, it is almost unanimously considered non-canonical by fans and scholars. The other story in the collection, "Skeleton Men of Jupiter", is a short, somewhat underdeveloped novelette which was the last Mars story Burroughs ever wrote.