Taylor Kitsch - John Carter of Mars {JCOM}#6: "We're mentally preparing ourselves for the journey to Mars"

GlamRok25 · 02-10-2011, 03:36 PM

Cast:
Taylor Kitsch- John Carter
Lynn Collins- Dejah Thoris
Willem Dafoe- Tars Tarkas
Samantha Morton- Sola
Dominic West- Sab Than
Polly Walker- Sarkoja
Thomas Haden Church- Tal Hajus
Mark Strong- Matai Shang
James Purefoy- Kantos Kan

Crew:
Director- Andrew Stanton (WALL·E, Finding Nemo)
Writers- Andrew Stanton & Mark Andrews
Writers Credits- Edgar Rice Burroughs (novel and characters)
Locations:

-London
-Utah, Lake Powell, Counties of Moab, Wayne and Kane, USA

Release and Shooting Dates:

Release Date: 9 March 2012 (USA)
Filming Dates: from January 2010 to July 2010

Plot:

The film is based on the first serial to feature John Carter, 1912's A Princess of Mars. Carter is an American Civil War veteran who is transported to Mars, here called Barsoom. Formerly an Earthlike world, it became less hospitable to life due to its advanced age: as the oceans evaporated, and the atmosphere thinned, the planet devolved into partial barbarism with the inhabitants hardened and warlike, fighting one another to survive. Barsoomians distribute scarce water supplies via a worldwide system of canals, controlled by quarreling city-states. The Martian atmosphere is maintained by a power plant. Carter rescues a humanoid Martian princess Dejah Thoris from the belligerent four-armed Green Martians, whose respect he gains for his superior strength and fighting ability. He enlists the Green Martians' assistance in winning a civil war, and saves Mars from destruction when its atmosphere plant malfunctions.

News:

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In January 2007, Disney regained the rights, acquiring them this time for Andrew Stanton and writer Mark Andrews. By 2008 they completed the first draft for part one of a film trilogy. Having completed WALL-E, Stanton planned to have his next film out in 2012, the centenary of the series. Stanton and Wells visited Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc.'s archives in Tarzana, California, as part of their research. Jim Morris, general manager of Pixar, said the film will have a unique look separate from Frank Frazetta's illustrations, which they found dated. Ed Catmull said Pixar will not do the special effects; Stanton noted he was effectively being "loaned" to Walt Disney Pictures because Pixar is an all-ages brand, whereas John Carter will be rated PG-13. The first film will be based on just the first novel. Stanton noted that although he had less time on pre-production than any of his animated projects, since he had read the novels as a child this made it easier because he had visualized scenes a long time ago. He does not intend to shoot in Disney Digital 3-D, although he fears the studio will force him to. In April 2009, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Michael Chabon confirmed he had been hired to do revisions to the script. Filming will take place from November 2009 to July 2010 in Utah. Locations include Lake Powell and the counties of Moab, Wayne and Kane.

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Ain't It Cool News has reported a few more details about writer/director Andrew Stanton's upcoming live-action Disney movie John Carter of Mars, confirming some details we reported a couple of weeks ago and last September and adding a few new ones.

Based on Stanton's presentation at this past weekend's Santa Barbara Film Festival, the site reported that the movie will be "huge; it is exciting; it scares the crap out of me. It's either going to make me or break me," Stanton (WALL-E) said.

Stanton added that the style of the movie is going to be very real, not highly stylized. Since Star Wars and a glut of science fiction and fantasy films have ripped off giant portions of John Carter over the years, the only option Stanton sees is doing a straight, realistic version of the story, as if a National Geographic crew stumbled across a preserved civilization while exploring a cave: Very real, but awe-inspiring, AICN reported.

As we reported, Stanton reiterated that he wants to avoid 3-D but thinks that Disney might want to push him toward it.

Stanton is on the second draft of a script and will begin casting soon. And John Carter WILL be a Civil War soldier, as in Edgar Rice Burroughs' Barsoom novels, on which the film will be based, the site confirmed.

Last September, we reported that Stanton said in a group interview in Emeryville, Calif.: "I'm going to do what I remember more than what they exactly do" in the books.

In a separate interview last September, Jim Morris, general manager at Pixar Animation, promised that the movie will not look like previous attempts to adapt the franchise for the screen. "Everything that's been out there has been an attempt to kind of capture this Deco-esque, [Frank] Frazetta vision of John Carter, which I think feels old and stale," he said. "And where Stanton is going—from what we've seen so far—is very different than that. And I think that the people who really love the essence of the books will really dig it, but so will audiences in general."

The film is based on the early-20th-century Barsoom series of books by Burroughs, the California author of the Tarzan series. It centers on a Civil War veteran who finds himself transported to the Red Planet and caught up in various battles and intrigues involving giant green creatures and an alluring princess. John Carter of Mars is slated for release sometime in 2012.

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We already knew a fair bit about Stanton’s plans, but here are the new bits and pieces:

- Yes, his John Carter will be a Civil War soldier. No fanbase-rattling updates into the modern day here. Presumably still a Johnny Reb - but that wasn’t confirmed and political sensitivity may just curb this.

- He hasn’t got the same kind of development and pre-production time for this film that he’d be afforded on a Pixar production, but he has been a fan since he was a kid and has therefore had plenty of ideas percolating for decades. I could say the same about a few books myself and, actually, there are definitely a few key scenes from literature that I’ve planned, filmed and edited in my imagination over and over, so I know exactly where he’s coming from.

- Not wanting his film to look or feel like Star Wars or any of it’s derivatives, Stanton is taking on a more naturalistic aesthetic here. He said that the film would be akin to what we’d see should a National Geographic stumble across a long lost civilisation in a cave - not unlike some of what Peter Jackson said about his Lord of the Rings films, in fact. More evidence that Rings is now a key genre paradigm just how Star Wars was for so long.

- The second draft of the script is now complete.

- Stanton doesn’t want to shoot in 3D, though he feels Disney may try to push him in that direction.

Personally, I respect Stanton’s decision to shoot 2D precisely the way I’d respect a filmmaker’s decision to shoot in black and white, or to make their film silent - not a decision I’d necessarily make, definitely not every time, but a valid artistic choice. It’s now so viable to shoot a decently budgeted studio film in 3D that I’m thinking I’d always approach it as the default. No matter the genre, no matter the style, I’d now see the possibility to film in 3D basically as a license to shoot in 3D, not just an option.

Casting and crewing info on John Carter is bound to start breaking within the coming months, but so far I’ve got no idea what to expect. I simply can’t second guess Stanton’s thinking on this. Can you give it a shot? Who do you think he might go for? And who would you like to see in the film?

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Taylor Kitsch, Lynn Collins blast off to 'Mars'
Disney adapting Edgar Rice Burroughs book series
Hollywood Reporter ~ June 12, 2009
Taylor Kitsch and Lynn Collins will star in "John Carter of Mars," the adaptation of the Edgar Rice Burroughs book series that Andrew Stanton is directing for Disney. The movie is a big step for Stanton -- who as one of Pixar's top creators directed the company's animated films "Finding Nemo" and "WALL-E" but will now helm his first live-action feature -- and Disney, which hopes the big-budget production will launch a franchise on the scale of "Pirates of the Caribbean."

"Carter" centers on a civil war veteran who finds himself mysteriously transported to Mars, where his involvement with warring races of the dying planet force him to rediscover his humanity. Kitsch will play the title character, while Collins is playing Dejah Thoris, heir to the throne of Mars' Helium kingdom.

Stanton wrote the screenplay with Mark Andrews. Jim Morris, who produced "WALL-E," and Colin Wilson are producing "Carter," which is eyeing a start in early 2010. Brigham Taylor is overseeing for the studio.

The role of Carter was considered one of the "gets" for a young actor, and Disney has spent months meeting and testing a wide swath of names from Jon Hamm to Josh Duhamel during its search. Canadian-born Kitsch, repped by WMA and Untitled, began building buzz with his starring role on NBC's "Friday Night Lights." Before long, he was considered one of the town's next generation of leading men, especially when he booked the role of Gambit in "Wolverine."

Collins, repped by WME and 3 Arts, had a recurring gig on HBO's "True Blood" but appeared with Kitsch in "Wolverine," which raised her profile considerably. She next stars opposite Joseph Gordon-Levitt in "Uncertainty," which IFC is releasing this year.

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Utah will be stage for Mars in new Disney Pixar film
The deal will bring millions to the state and employ nearly 400 Utahns.
The Salt Lake Tribune ~ June 12, 2009
First as the planet Vulcan and now the red rocks of Mars, Utah has become Hollywood's destination spot for depicting exotic intergalactic worlds. Disney and Pixar are expected to partly film the pulp science-fiction adventure "John Carter of Mars" in Utah from November to July 2010. Portions of the Beehive State will double as Mars, including Lake Powell (where the original "Planet of the Apes" was partially filmed), Moab, and Kane and Wayne counties.

"It's the biggest movie we've ever used incentives on," said Utah Film Commission executive director Marshall Moore. "We haven't seen these kinds of numbers since doing a TV series for a year." The San Rafael Swell already doubled as the planet Vulcan in this year's summer blockbuster "Star Trek," but second-unit crews only shot for four days in Utah.

Disney is scheduled to shoot in Utah for 45 days. The story, based on the Edgar Rice Burroughs science-fiction book series -- which begins with A Princess of Mars -- is about an American Civil War veteran who is transported to Mars to face a series of adventures.

Burroughs, who was born in Chicago, was no stranger to Utah, working as a railroad police officer in Salt Lake City in 1904

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Threesome on journey to 'Mars'
Samantha Morton, Dominic West, Polly Walker join pic

English actors Samantha Morton, Dominic West and Polly Walker have joined "John Carter of Mars," Disney's adaptation of the Edgar Rice Burroughs book series that Andrew Stanton is directing.
Taylor Kitsch, Lynn Collins and Willem Dafoe already are on board the production, which centers on a Civil War veteran (Kitsch) who finds himself mysteriously transported to Mars, where he becomes embroiled with the planet's warring people.
Morton plays Sola, the daughter of Dafoe's Tars Tarkas, 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.
Stanton wrote the screenplay with Mark Andrews. Jim Morris and Colin Wilson are producing "Mars," which is eyeing a start early next year. Brigham Taylor is overseeing for the studio.
Morton, repped by WME and Wishlab, next appears in the ensemble war drama "The Messenger."
West, repped by WME and United Agents, starred in HBO's "The Wire" and appeared in "300."
Walker might be best known for her work on HBO's "Rome," in which she played the conniving Atia of the Julii. The actress, repped by Gersh, Hamilton Hodell and Authentic Management, recently wrapped production on "Clash of the Titans," in which she played Cassiopeia.

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From the sound of things, Disney's adaptation of the nearly hundred-year-old sci-fi series by Edgar Rice Burroughs, "John Carter of Mars," is going to start shooting as early as January of next year. The start had previously been pushed back from November. Pre-production continues to move steadily forward nonetheless on the hybrid live action/CGI film.
As co-star Lynn Collins told MTV's Josh Horowitz last week on the New York red carpet for "The Burning Plain," she's already seen workups of fight sequences she'll have to film and, last week, some initial effects work kicked into gear.
"We're actually getting into some hair and makeup tests this week to see what the look is like," said Collins, who plays the humanoid Martian princess Dejah Thoris. "It's really collaborative and really creative and I'm really excited about it."
The preliminary idea is not to bury Collins under prosthetics and heavy-duty makeup but to create a look that would not be out of place on a tropical island. "I think they're going more like a really great tan, like the best-tan-you-can-ever-imagine type of thing," she said. "I've yet to find it. Maybe the makeup team will be able to."
There's no word yet how the rest of the cast will end up looking. Joining Collins in "John Carter" is her "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" co-star Taylor Kitsch as the title character, a Civil War vet inexplicably transported to the Red Planet, where he stumbles upon all manner of alien adventures.
"Taylor is so amazing," Collins said. "We went to Pixar and saw some of the workups of some of the fighting that we have to do. I was like, 'Oh my god, there's just no guy better for the job. He's so athletic and wonderful and such a great actor and so positive.'"
Calling her character "a priestess of science and letters," Collins extolled co-writer/director Andrew Stanton's ("WALL-E," "Finding Nemo") vision for "John Carter." "Edgar Rice Burroughs was a really smart writer, so smart that some of the stuff I can hardly wrap my head around, so that's up to Pixar to see if they can put in visually to life," the actress said, adding, "It's completely satirical and politically on point, I'd say."
With filming on the action-heavy flick planned for next year in Utah, Collins will begin a serious training regime next month. Until then, she's been enjoying the cheesy glories of the city's culinary crowning achievement. "I've been eating as much New York pizza—I just had a huge pizza!" she smiled.

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Purefoy, Haden Church & Strong For Mars
Three join John Carter
James Purefoy, Mark Strong and Thomas Haden Church have all signed on to join John Carter of Mars, the live-action adaptation of Edgar Rice Burrough's books from Pixar's Andrew Stanton. Honestly, if this film sounded any better it'd be Pavarotti.
So the previously cast Taylor Kitsch (Friday Night Lights, X-Men Origins: Wolverine) is John Carter himself, a US Civil War veteran who goes to sleep in a cave after being chased by Apache Indians and wakes up on Mars, known as Barsoom. There, he meets such weird and wonderful characters as Tal Hajus (Haden Church), a vicious Thark warrior; Kantos Kan (Purefoy), Captain of the ship Xavarian, the kingdom of Helium’s grand warship and Matai Shang (Strong) ruler of the godlike Therns.
For those of you colour-coding at home, that means that Church's character belongs to the savage race of Green martians, so we're guessing he'll be largely unrecognisable, being 10-12' tall, green, four-armed and with eyes on the sides of his head. Purefoy's character is one of the Red martians, so basically humanoid, while Strong's character is one of the white-skinned Thern, who are bald but wear wigs (much like every Strong character then, boom-boom).
The three actors join Kitsch, Lynn Collins, Dominic West, Polly Walker, Samantha Morton and Willem Dafoe, in a film that awesome author Michael Chabon is writing. In the immortal words of Kirsten Dunst, bring it on.

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Article written by Fangora Magazine:
Most recently, he took part in the currently lensing JOHN CARTER OF MARS, based on Edgar Rice Burroughs' novel. "I'm a leader of two warring factions on Mars," he explains. "John Carter, a Confederate soldier on the run, ends up in a rock formation, touches something strange, passes out and comes to on Mars. And then he faces all these extraordinary things—hairy giant white apes and such—and he gets into a love/hate relationship with this woman, Dejah. I show up playing her father at the end for a little bit of gravitas. She's played by Lynn Collins, who's done a lot of classical acting—Shakespeare in the Park—and was one of the X-Men [in X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE].

"The guy playing John Carter is Taylor Kitsch, and he looks like the real thing," Hinds continues. "It's a huge role; he's going to be knackered when he's done! I mean, you read it and think, ‘Whoa, you've got so much to get through!' " I've just done my first day, and greenscreen was everywhere. It's a really creative computer-generated animation/live action project, directed by the great Andrew Stanton [who previously helmed the animated hits FINDING NEMO and WALL-E], so it was a thrill to be asked to be part of that one."

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I've read that there will be a mix of live-action and CGI in your new movie, Pixar's 'John Carter of Mars.' Can you tell us anything about that?
Only that the story takes place in Civil War America and Mars, and everything that your imagination can conjure up, that's going to be in the movie. It's a great, great experience for me. I'm enjoying it. Andrew Stanton, who is our director and writer, he's a great guy and a visionary really and he's enjoying himself. Taylor Kitsch is a terrific young actor, and I've had a good time so far. I've got a few more weeks to go and I'm looking forward to it.
[url=http://insidetv.aol.com/2010/03/19/bryan-cranston-interview-breaking-bad-season-3//TV Squad[/url]

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Looks like they are wrapping things up in London, but there was still a little activity over at Greenford Studios yesterday morning. A fan writes:

There's been some odd activity in a recently vacated warehouse near where I work.
It's a former Entertainment UK site, near Greenford in West London.

I saw lots of small signposts "JCOM" on the lamposts near the site and was curious and the internet has led me here.

It's clearly a film set, with two large tents at one end of the site and a group of living quarters type trailers at the other end and there's a single piece of scenery visible outside, which *might* be martian. The extras we see wandering about appear to the untrained eye, to be rather Roman in appearance.

I watched this place early this week and I thought they were packing up. All the mobile home type trailers are gone, but today I saw more of these 'roman' chaps walking about.

He was also good enough to send us a few photos of the front gate with the little JCOM sign we've all come to know and love

UPDATE: We've just received two more photos showing some wicked cool looking props...

The coffin shape at left seems to have some sort of bas relief or something along it's top side and a rough hewn stone facade on the left. Maybe this is part of a larger sculpture or building.

The lower photo looks maybe like a brazier or lamp post... it's style is something out of this world... sort of an Art Deco meets H.R. Giger kinda thing!
John Carter of Mars Movie | unofficial fan site

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Article on the language of "Barsoom" Jcomreader-News and reviews from Barsoom, Mongo and other planets!: Avatar Language Creator on John Carter of Mars

FanArt: