"John Carter of Mars" Moving Ahead!

[Mysterion]

And it looks like there's a direct-to-DVD competitor for the Disney/Pixar effort. This one starring Antonio Sabato Jr. and Traci Lords:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nsawq3PBMms

 

[S. Gomez]

The Walt Disney Company owns Touchstone Pictures and Miramax Films, studios responsible for such fun-filled children's classics as Splash, Pretty Woman, Dead Poets Society, and a slew of Jerry Bruckheimer films. And yet people are afraid this movie will be "kiddified" (as if it somehow can't be, as has already been argued). The Walt Disney Company has proven itself quite capable of making films for mature audiences.

Yeah, but the question is how they'll approach the property. If they're using the Disney label on it, for example, one can assume it's been kiddified - and a good old rollicking Edgar Rice Burroughs adventure is certainly the sort of story that could easily be portrayed as a child-friendly narrative, for the rather unremarkable reason that - as observed - it sort of is that anyway.

That is a fair point, although I remember they went back and forth over which label to release The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy under. For a short time, it was under the Walt Disney castle logo until they switched to Touchstone. I actually think it was because some people vocalized their concern over how the film would be interpreted with the label.

RJDiogenes, I highly recommend Michael Chabon's The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier And Clay. It's all about comic books and comic book writers and artists...and it won a Pulitzer! Take that, literary elite!

 

[RJDiogenes]

And it looks like there's a direct-to-DVD competitor for the Disney/Pixar effort. This one starring Antonio Sabato Jr. and Traci Lords:

Asylum!

RJDiogenes, I highly recommend Michael Chabon's The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier And Clay. It's all about comic books and comic book writers and artists...and it won a Pulitzer! Take that, literary elite!

Thanks. That looks pretty cool indeed. I just put it in my Shopping Cart.

 

[Aragorn]

And it looks like there's a direct-to-DVD competitor for the Disney/Pixar effort. This one starring Antonio Sabato Jr. and Traci Lords:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nsawq3PBMms

The inspiration for Avatar!!!!

Typical Asylum.

What's even funnier is when they release their titles on Blu-ray.

 

[stonester1]

They seem to attract semi-respectable talent for their films, go fig.

And have no problems displaying boobs. And they obviously love the genres we love.

So I can't help but have a bit of a soft spot for them.

 

[Too Much Fun]

And it looks like there's a direct-to-DVD competitor for the Disney/Pixar effort. This one starring Antonio Sabato Jr. and Traci Lords:

Asylum!

RJDiogenes, I highly recommend Michael Chabon's The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier And Clay. It's all about comic books and comic book writers and artists...and it won a Pulitzer! Take that, literary elite!

Thanks. That looks pretty cool indeed. I just put it in my Shopping Cart.

I second the recommendation. Probably my favourite 21st century piece of literature so far. There's a movie currently in development hell, but if it ever comes out, I don't think it can possibly do that incredible epic of a novel justice. It's a huge, sprawling story that spans many years, and yet it builds some amazing intimate romance and friendship between its characters. When I saw who was in the "Princess of Mars" flick, at first I thought it was porn...then I remembered that Traci Lords is a legit actress now.

 

[stonester1]

She was great in Zack n Miri.

"Her name Bubbles."

 

[RJDiogenes]

They seem to attract semi-respectable talent for their films, go fig.

And have no problems displaying boobs. And they obviously love the genres we love.

So I can't help but have a bit of a soft spot for them.

All that is good, and I love indulging in B-Movies, but the big drawback with Asylum is that their product is so incoherently directed and edited that it really detracts from the fun.

 

[Ptrope]

How Avatar Has Changed Pixar's John Carter of Mars

In much the same way that The Incredibles forced Marvel to back up and try (mostly unsuccessfully) to match the spectacle that Pixar had created of a family with (similar!) superpowers, it sounds like Avatar is truly and already changing the way future movies are conceived and executed. IMO, nobody is better at pushing the envelope than Pixar, unless it's James Cameron, so to have Avatar set a bar to make John Carter of Mars an even better film, it probably couldn't be in any better hands than Pixar's. It's going to be interesting to see how this turns out - I was happy to hear that Stanton was the driving force, happier still to find that Pixar was actually standing behind it, and now I'm expecting to get blown out of the theater with a movie that will not only have a strong story, but possibly the most incredible VFX ever done.

 

[S. Gomez]

That article sounds more like one actor's opinion than an actual statement from Pixar that they're going to change their whole production method.

And I'm not sure what the writer means when he talks about Pixar and the uncanny valley. Pixar's humans are generally among the most caricatured to be found in animation, and they're specifically designed that way.

 

[Kegg]

Why is it every single bit of news I hear about this film gives me greater confidence for it?

That usually doesn't happen. Can I please get a bad bit of casting or a churlish interview or give George Lucas an advisory job or something, because until then I cannot believe this project is real.

Though seriously, that is precisely the attitude to take. As I said in the Avatar thread, Sam Raimi's Warcraft had better also be taking note - hell, any sci-fi/fantasy film with a degree of spectacle that's in any stage of production should take stock of what Avatar did. That includes the next Star Trek, naturally.

 

[Ptrope]

Well, it's also unfortunate that a site mostly devoted to sci-fi, beyond not knowing that Pixar's humans are about as far from the uncanny valley as one can get, intentionally, also thinks that Matai Shang is "ruler over the Fern people," rather than the ruler of the Therns, the white religious idols and manipulators guarding the river Iss; the author makes them sound like Ewoks ...

Still, I tend to side with the actor, who could reasonably have some insight into the reactions of the Pixar producers of the film in which he is cast to the advent of Avatar and its influence on their industry and their future plans.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

After looking at more images of Lynn Collins, I rescind whatever narrow-minded comments I might have previously made about her casting as Dejah Thoris. She does indeed have an exotic/louche quality that I think is perfectly appropriate to the role. Like so. And furthermore.

On IMDB, Edgar Rice Burroughs is now listed as a character in the film. Played by some kid from Torrance? Just what the frak is going on?

However, James Purfoy has now joined the cast? The movie is now an automatic hit. I'm getting dizzy from all the whiplash.

Seriously, folks. I hope this flick is a big fat hit (though I'm starting to get a dislocated sense of underlying chaos that makes me think more along the lines of train wreck) because my real agenda is to get Carson of Venus, my favorite ERB series, to finally hit the big screen. If John Carter flops, Carson has no hope.

 

[Nerys Myk]

In the books "ERB" always seems to be the guy who hears the stories left by his friends, relations and acquaintances.

 

[Ptrope]

In fact, I'm holding The Gods of Mars in my hands now, and the foreward ends with

There is much which I have left out; much which I have not dared to tell; but you will find the story of his second search for Dejah Thoris, Princess of Helium, even more remarkable than was his first manuscript which I gave to an unbelieving world a short time since and through which we followed the fighting Virginian across dead sea bottoms under the moons of Mars. - E.R.B.

Burroughs was clearly the autobiographical 'great-nephew' of John Carter, to whom Carter related his tales of Barsoom; he's an original part of the tales themselves, so I'm pretty happy to see they've kept even that connection, rather than rewriting it all. It seems to me that they're trying very hard to remain true not only to the spirit of the novels, but also to many of the details - better than that travesty that Spielberg made of [The] War of the Worlds

 

[Nerys Myk]

Years ago (okay decades ) a friend and I plotted an epic series of novels that went from the Earth's core to Africa to Mars and Venus. One of the main characters was a guy named Edgar Rice Burroughs. I think we made a stop on the Moon too.

 

[Mysterion]

I know htis is thread-necromancy, but Disney now says the relase date for this is 9 March 2012. Less than a year, folks!

Am hoping the Del Rey re-issues their paperback editions of the books, ideally with the Michael Whelan covers from the late '70s. Would also love to see them re-issue John Flint Roy's A Guide to Barsoom.

 

[Starbreaker]

Any new reprints would probably have movie stills with NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE on the front, sadly

 

[Mysterion]

Any new reprints would probably have movie stills with NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE on the front, sadly

You're probably right, but a guy can dream, can't he?

On the plus side, we might get a really spiffy batch of action figures out of this.

 

[JRoss]

Go to Powell's Books in Portland if you want them in paperback. B&N has a collected edition of the first three.

It really is time for more figures. The only ones I ever owned were a fixed-pose John and Dejah, ooh, and an awesome Mighty Max.