Finally.
At long last.
The news I've been waiting over 25 years to hear has just been released by Disney...
BURBANK, Calif. (January 15, 2010) - Principal photography is underway in London for Walt Disney Pictures' "JOHN CARTER OF MARS." Academy Award-winning filmmaker Andrew Stanton brings this captivating hero to the big screen in a stunning adventure epic set on the wounded planet of Mars, a world inhabited by warrior tribes and exotic desert beings. Based on the first of Edgar Rice Burroughs' "Barsoom Series," the film chronicles the journey of Civil-War veteran John Carter, who finds himself battling a new and mysterious war amidst a host of strange Martian inhabitants.
After I had watched Star Wars in 1977, my 11-year-old mind was ensnared by science fiction and I was desperate for more. I had read a few teen sci-fi books here and there, but the genre never really caught hold. It wasn't until Star Wars that an obsession was born. I quickly became bored with the "kids" version of science fiction and decided to see what awaited me in the adult section of the library. That's when I found A Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs...
I devoured all of the Burroughs "Barsoom" books, and used it as a spring-board to the worlds of Asimov, Bradbury, Heinlein, Herbert, and other science fiction giants.
But it was the John Carter of Mars books that remained my favorite (so much so that I even "became" Edgar Rice Burroughs when joining in on Kapgar's "The Lost Blogs" contest).
Sure they are relatively flimsy stories filled with outrageous coincidences and tacky dialogue, but the bizarre creatures and fantastic places that are a hallmark of the stories more than compensated. It was those things that had me dying to see John Carter movies on the big screen.
And, after numerous false starts, that day has finally come.
Here's hoping Andrew Stanton doesn't fuck up a childhood dream...
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I am excited about this movie too…especially since Dejah Thoris will be played by none other than the world’s hottest woman: Lynn Collins.
The artwork in that image looks familiar. Who is it? I seem to recall collecting a series of cards back in the 90s with similar art. But I can’t think of his name.
I likey!
Have to check those books out, sound great. Hey we’re the same age!
On a side note on the Streetcar today on the way towards Pacific Place and we went past a upcoming Hard Rock Cafe location, which you probably already know about.
Westlake Ave. N and I forgot the cross street!
The books hold up fairly well. At least the sci-fi elements do. I could still do without the wild coincidences though.
The Hard Rock is on Pike, but it’s not at Westlake… it’s almost to the Market, just down from 2nd.
I am aware of that one, the signboard was located further down on the streetcar route. Now I’ll have to check again and see whether it for another location or just alerting people of the one near Pike.
I remember I picked up a copy of “Princess of Mars” from Powell’s Books after you and I talked about it — and absolutely loved it. Even though I was reading it for the first time as an adult, something about the story had that miraculous power to induce such a sense of wonder in me that I felt like I was a 12 year old boy reading about John Carter’s adventures.
I’m excited about this movie. I really hope they put the effort into doing it right.
This movie has the same potential for EPIC FAIL as the completely off-target movie version of Steven King’s The Mist, mostly because the movie indusdry has way to many cliche ideas about strange creatures. But, it also has the potential to be a kick-ass movie.
The only tacky dialog and cliches I see is in the typical internet nerd writings you do.
And yet here you are… pouring over every word AND taking time to leave a comment so you can feel all superior with your childish insults while adding nothing to the conversation. Congratulations! You are the very DEFINITION of tacky and cliched.