‘Wall-E’ Director to Helm Disney Film Based on Burroughs Martian Fantasy Novel
Could John Carter of Mars be an epic franchise hit for Disney in the same caliber as the Pirates of the Caribbean movies?
Willem Dafoe will play the fierce Martian warrior Tar Tarkas, who differs from his race because he possesses the ability to love, reports Variety.
The film is an adaptation on the Edgar Rice Burroughs novel “A Princess of Mars,” which is the first in Burroughs’ Martian series. Andrew Stanton (Wall-E) will direct and write the picture.
Taylor Kitsch will play John Carter, the American Civil War veteran that is transported from Earth to Mars and the main hero of the novel. Lynn Collins will play Dejah Thoris, Princess of Helium, a member of the humanoid red Martian race.
Stanton did an outstanding job with Wall-E by displaying both action and romance in that film. With him helming the film (and probably the movie series), John Carter should rock the box office and delight audiences like Pirates did.
These Burroughs novels are a blend of sword fighting and swashbuckling, monsters, and supernatural elements. In X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Kitsch suberbly portrayed the mutant Gambit, who is a character full action and romance. So he should excel in the role of the courageous John Carter, master of swords and weapons.
Filming will take place from November 2009 to July 2010 in Utah. Disney plans to release the film in 2011, which I would assume is during the summer movie season.
