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More on JOHN CARTER OF MARS!
Hey folks, Harry here with more on the newly in motion JOHN CARTER OF MARS movie at Paramount. Friday I got a call from Jim Jacks, the producer (alongside Sean Daniel) on what is being envisioned as the key franchise of choice at PARAMOUNT.
Jim was calling to catch up with me, talk about the project and put down a few fears that fans were expressing in Talk Backs on the original article.
First, he doesn't really know where the ROCK rumor got started, but not only did I have it, but when Variety called him to ask about the project out of the blue they had the same information. I do know where it started, and suffice to say sometimes there are sourgrapes in this business.
Contrary to that rumor, Dwayne Johnson... THE ROCK will not be John Carter. Jim Jacks noted that John Carter is a Southern Civil War officer that after the war decided to set out to find and make his fortune. That doesn't really make sense for Dwayne to play, however Jim did tell me that he is working with Dwayne on a Western-update project with him that he is quite excited about.
He mentioned being intrigued by the ideas of Matthew McConaughey -- "You know we produced his first film, DAZED AND CONFUSED"-- and Hugh Jackman -- "I could really see him playing a southern Civil War type" -- in the John Carter role, he loved the idea of Kurt Russell, but felt he was a bit old for the character, as this will be a franchise. He's very adamant about casting a manly man in the role and not some actor with boyish features. Someone more rough and tumble. Personally I like the TALK BACK suggestion of Mark Dacascos!
Beginning this week they'll be talking to screenwriters to get started on the script, meeting with the top established guys like Frank Darabont and talking to some of the new hot talent like Jeff Vintar, whose I, ROBOT spec is Alex Proyas' next opus over at Fox. However, what he really wants is someone that is in love with the John Carter stories, someone passionate about adapting those books into films. He wants accurate adaptations, because everything he wants in the films is right there.
As for directors, he's going to be meeting with folks like Sam Raimi, whom he produced A SIMPLE PLAN and THE GIFT for... as well as folks like Spielberg and so on. He wants this to be taken as seriously as the LORD OF THE RINGS films were made. That sort of attention to detail. They have a huge budget approved at Paramount and he wants it to end up on screen.
Jim said that this all started when Sherry Lansing at Paramount was talking with him about how much she loved the films he was producing for her like A SIMPLE PLAN and THE GIFT, but that she really wanted to do something big with him at Paramount. And he blurted out JOHN CARTER OF MARS. The rights were tough to get as some other producers were hot and heavy for them as well, especially after the success of LORD OF THE RINGS. But Jim had read the books as a boy and had his parents ship him his paperback editions from their home so he could show them to the Burroughs Estate folks at their meeting. Over the course of our conversation he was quite enthusiastic about the project and knew the material front and back.
He said that these are going to be very different films from THE MUMMY series that he produced over at UNIVERSAL. These will feel very different from that. From the sound of what he was saying... They literally want to make an absolutely faithful adaptation of PRINCESS OF MARS and they'd like to start shooting sometime next year.
I've dreamt pretty much my whole adult life of seeing the JOHN CARTER OF MARS series done perfect on the big screen. Am I about to get that wish? I don't know, but I will tell you this, I'm going to be all over this project. You'll probably get really sick of me talking about it, but I'm excited folks. A period science fiction epic is exactly what I lust after. And Jim Jacks certainly seems to be excited to deliver that. We'll see.
Here's some fan art that Dan Land composited up of Hugh Jackman as John Carter... Can you see it?
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Wow, what a suggestion! Yes, I'd love to see him in the title role! And maybe they could get Sofia Coppola to play his missus, Rodney Dangerfield to play some fatty of sort, and a CGI-d John Wayne as a bad guy! Love it darling, go with it! Have the whole thing directed by Stevie Wonder, and I think we've got it! Now that's sarcasm...
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Man, this is great shit these days, what with the "Lord Of The Rings" series (hopefully) opening up the possibilities of new sci-fi/fantasy epics in Hollywood. Whether they get screwed up or not remains to be seen, but it's good to see these works with SOME fanbase attempted, rather than people greenlighting another generic mindless action film like "XXX" just to provide a starring vehicle for Vin fuckin' Diesel. I'm not that familar with the John Carter series (though my dad is), but plan to follow this one closely. We need more of these kind of films to inspire our goddamned imagination, and not just the usual countless romantic comedies, like Hollywood loves to make.
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I'd have to go with loincloths. Not much of a change from the original, and I think a southern gentleman would have almost as much trouble getting used to loincloths and skimpy bras (on the women) as total nudity.
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He would have made the perfect choice for this (scratching my chin).
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well, it's about fucking time that the 'john carter of mars' series got up and running, so here's 5tone's 2cents on the subject...or should i say two words on the subject: NO SOMMERS! that's right: NO SOMMERS! after his two 'mummy' abortions, this guy's got a long ways to go before he regains his place in tommy's cool book (he got a listing after 'deep rising' but lost it big time after 'mummy returns'). as another guy said in the first 'JCOM' talkback, these stories are just pulp fiction, so why bother...doesn't this shemp realise that there's a difference between good pulp and bad pulp? and that good pulp, like a great stephen king novel or 'raiders of the lost ark', can just as easily be great art? that what 'john carter of mars' could be in the right hands. so let's talk directors - all the usual suspects would be appropriate: peter jackson. robert zemeckis. guillermo del toro. frank darabont. heck, i'd even like martin campbell ('the mask of zorro', remember?) to take a whack at it. raimi's a good choice, but sony'll probably tie him up on 'spider-man 2' right away. so how about a few left-field selections? guys with good solid track records and strong bodies of work who wouldn't fuck it all up. based on the underrated 'rob roy', i reckon michael caton-jones could do pretty well. likewise kevin reynolds, whose 'count of monte cristo' was quite entertaining. and don't all throw shit at me at once but...maybe stephen hopkins? yes, i know he directed 'lost in space' but that was written by akiva goldsman, so give the guy a break. he's done some fine work in the past - 'predator 2' and 'the ghost and the darkness' both got the job done, if you ask me. if the script is kickass (why not use the rossio & elliott screenplay?), then hopkins could pull it off, i reckon. as for casting, it's gotta be jackman or mcconaughey, hasn't it? look, with a project like this, you've got a chance to make something fucking great, something with a life beyond the summer season. something we geeks could hold close to our hearts for years to come. wouldn't that be the shit?
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even though I don't really know who John Carter is.
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...listen up execs. Every time you make a casting choice or begin to build a set, hold it up to the Frank Frazetta paintings and ask yourself if they match. If they don't, keep trying until they do.
Second, don't even think of hiring Sam Raimi for this job. Get Christophe Gans or Pitof, or some other European director who understands tone, mood and pacing and isn't afraid of making the film for adults. If it has to be PG-13, shoot alternative versions for the DVD. Too much violence in the world, we need more nudity!!!
Besides, the John Carter property is not a mainstream kind of movie. It is a "Matrix" kind of movie. Sc-fi/fantasy for adults, rated R!
Mark Dacascos is more John Carter than any name mentioned yet. Watch him as Manny in "Brotherhood of the Wolf." Dark, brooding and full of soul, like John Carter.
Don't overspend like you Hollywood morons always do. Keep it simple and focus on mood over spectatcle.
F*ck it, I'll direct it since you're asking.
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Apr 14, 2002 10:22:33 AM CDT
No I think Jim Jacks should star in it! Come on Jim star in the
by bari umenema
Jim Jacks IS John Carter! 'nuff said.
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Mark has finally put himself under the Hollywood microscope with the recent release of BROTHERHOOD OF THE WOLF and his upcoming collaboration with Christophe Gans once again. Could this guy be a great choice for John Carter? Hell yes! He could speak Japanese in CRYING FREEMAN, French in BROTHERHOOD, why not a southern accent(or slight southern accent) in JOHN CARTER. Bruce Campbell was another suggestion I made, but after the rigors of ARMY OF DARKNESS that he had complained about I really don't see him jumping for the role. Hugh Jackman could be good, but given his schedule of "films to be shot" could he fit in John Carter next to Wolverine on his shooting schedule? Possibly.
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Jackman would be great for the role.
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He looks just like the John Carter of Mars paperbacks from the late 70s/early80s. Or the old Marvel comics with Dave Cockrum art. Anybody know how to get into with Dave Cockrum? He'd be salivating over this. IF Jackman became John Carter, then he will have played two characters that Dave Cockrum has drawn at Marvel Comics!
Now if we can just have Jennifer Connelly gain some weight to play the naked Dejah, I'd be happy.
Hang in there and take care!
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...too bad he's so damn old.
I gig him anyway.
I must confess-I never read
the John Carter books,But I
really liked the Marvel Comics
adaption as a kid.The whole
concept is pretty damn cool.
I hope this turns out good.Why
did I even bother posting? -
"Okay, yah, ah see lotsa dem dere Mahshuns in ya footcha, yah, 'n dere, dere commin raht for ya, hon. Da cahds, dey don't lah."
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Have I missed something here. I think he's a cool enough fella but every friggin time I come here now there's this bloody Favreau post. WTF? Oh, and I don't know shit about Carter but I'll throw my hat into the ring and suggest Dennis Quaid. Probably too old though.
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For people who think JOHN CARTER should be filmed as a grand, deadly serious, cinematic epic, I would say--consider the source material. I loved reading the Burroughs books as a kid, but face facts, they are what they are---highly entertaining but ultimately formulaic, silly, badly written pulp novels. These books can not possibly translate well to film, just as many comic-book heroes can't. What seems glorious on the page, looks absolutely ludicrous on a 30ft. screen. I have a second point; given what we know about modern science and the planet Mars, the suspension of disbelief for the audience and the filmmakers would have to be gigantic. If there has to be a cinematic adaption, the only hope is to play it tongue in cheek and/or having the story exist in a complete fantasy world with no pretense for realism (if I were Jim Jacks, I would look at "The Thief of Baghdad" with Sabu, or Errol Flynn's "Adventures of Robin Hood").
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In the talkback for the previous John Carter story I wrote that I had already lost interest in this adaptation because of THE ROCK and the possiblity that it could be THE MUMMY ON MARS. Apparently my worries were unjustified. Maybe Hollywood is taking this one seriously after all. But I said it before and I
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Me and a friend have an ongoing debate over what movies we wish would have gotten made. At the top of the list is John Carter, made in the 60's with Ray Harryhausen doing the effects, and Charlton Heston or Todd Armstrong (Jason out of Jason and the Argonauts) as Carter. Come to think of it, it would have made a pretty cool Buster Crabbe serial as well.
Somehow, I don't think it would be that cool if they made it today. Modern, jaded audiences won't buy it. -
One of the most disappointing things about reading the original novel as a kid was how ERB copped out on how John Carter got to Mars in the first place.
I would suggest to whoever cares that they consider a quantum mechanical / chaos theory type accident, such as Michael Crichton layed out in 'Timeline' but never used. The premise is simple: John Carter is a billionaire entrepeneur who personally backs a quantum mechanical transport device that is going to make travel to Mars as cheap as borsht. He does so by being the first subject in the supposedly safe maiden voyage. There's a chaos theory glitch, and instead of going to Mars in 2015 he lands on Mars a billion years in the past, when it had an atmosphere, and was inhabited. The three-limbed guys are okay then, but Dejah Thoris should be weirder, just humanoid enough to turn ol' Johnny on, but still another species. Lots to play with there. This opens up plot twists such as if he ever returns to the Earth he knew, he can't take Dejah with him, etc.
Anyway, it isn't 1915 now; one has to give the standard audience some pseudo-scientific cotton candy.
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Errr, High Jackman. But, damn, that video of Michael Jackson is the first thing that popped into my head... what was it, 'Rememeber The Time'? Hehehe.
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They want a manly-man? You got it. That guy has "hunk " written all over him. Imagining Ben in that poster promo shirtless makes my nipples hard just thinking about it. And he's an Oscar winner to boot! They could have a "win a dream date with John Carter of Mars" contest.
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We could somehow travel back in time and and grab a young Gregory Peck, beef him up a bit (not a great deal though) and use him as JC? I always thought of John Carter has having that serious kind of demeanour the Peck used to show in his films
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A few years ago someone did a syndicated Tarzan TV show, I'm thinking it was the same folks who did Sheena and maybe the Jack of Hearts shows, but that's a guess. About the same time there was a series of Tarzan action figures that featured the Mars and Pelucidar folks. As I recall, there was some preliminary info on the TV show that indicated they would eventually take Tarzan to Mars and Pellucidar as well. I'd be interested in hearing the scoop on this.
Oh yeah, predictably the low-budget Tarzan TV show didn't last a full season, so they never got off the surface of Earth if they had it in their plans. -
WTF is wrong with these hollywood morons?
The rights were hard to get? What idiot payed somebody for the rights to a PUBLIC DOMAIN BOOK?
Did that guy give them a good deal on the Brooklyn Bridge while he was at it?
I know, maybe they bought the rights to the character name "John Carter" from Michael Crichton, thinking ER was based on Burroughs...
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Someone who can put together actions sequences like nobody's business. I'm a longtime fan of the Mars series, and I've been treated to many aborted promises that "this time we mean it!". I hope this is true, and I echo the above sentiment that they keep Stephen Sommers the hell away from this. And that Martin Campbell be considered. "The Mask of Zorro" is one the best swordplay films ever made, and John Carter demands a lot of swordplay...against CGI opponents, no less.
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...Luke Wilson? That's it. Nothing else.
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Apr 14, 2002 5:43:55 PM CDT
I never read John Carter but I know the basic story-I would not
by tarl_cabot
What makes the John Carter story appealing is the fantasy of an adventurer going to another world and enjoying the more primitively masculine based live-and-die-by the-sword values and hair raisingly dangerous environment that "Mars" would offer as an antedode to earth's mediocre unromantic and unadventureous civilized world. This is what ERB wanted to escape-he wanted to get back to basics, basically and that was the 1800's! Imagine how he'd react to modern day feminisim and the general nuetering of humanity in our society? I doubt The current social and political climate of America would imbrace this film and allow it to be the mainstream franchise Paramount is envisioning unless they cut the balls off of it completely. I never read John Carter. I read the John Norman Gor series which was pretty much a rip off (but glorious!). I loved those books(hence my user ID) but I don't think Gor or John Carter could be adapted without being bastardized beyond recognition. These are adolescent male fantasies (aren't they great?) that will not play well to upity feminsists and therefore Paramount will give us some pandering Tomb Raider type chick who can kick ass too bullshit to create some balance. It would ruin the appeal of a John Carter movie for me-or if they go the geek route and be faithful it may not get the funding it deserves and be a piece of crap like The Scorpion King. This property may well best be left alone. Anyway, I'm all for new shit-everything else is tapped out except for Matrix and LOTR but those will be over soon.
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And I think his interest in genre roles is strictly limited. John Carter sounds like a great fit for Matthew McConaughey, he's got that Southern thing going on. And "John Carter of Mars" is more historically accurate than U-571.
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hehe
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This will definately be the next great epic! I hope they continue on with Burroughs' Carson of Venus series. what do you think harry?
p.s. Pelucidar?!?! (i have been dying to see this on the silver screen!) -
I dig ERB and John Carter, so I will take the job. My fee is non-negotiable: I get one million dollars, a custom-made Purdy shotgun, a new Chevy Suburban packed with Cuban cigars and the producers agree to babysit my pit bull Peckinpaugh for a weekend of my choosing. Contact me directly or call my agent, Dan the Man of Vortex Tours, Sedona, AZ. (Dan's never had a client who actually got work before, so if I were the first, it'd really make his day).
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For DOGSTAR, John Carter is the hero of 11 volumes of adventures set on a never-never land version of Mars. Carter sort of dreams himself to the planet, which is populated by giant green monsters and red-skinned humans. The world is running on a feudal structure. There are no spaceships or ray guns, that I can recall. No clothes, either. I read the entire series when I was but a lad, back when good old Ballantine (God bless them) reissued the series in the early 60s with all-new artwork covers. John Carter wields a sword and a mean right hook. He is a Southern gentleman, and the series begins in the 1800s, around the time of the Civil War. ERB wrote the first story in the early 1900s, before WWI. It is all very Victorian in its approach, and pure pulp, and unreadable today by anyone over the age of 12 (you can read complete texts of the first three or four novels on a couple of different websites). The best remains the first, A PRINCESS OF MARS. Some of these "novels" are actually short story collections. The series is long overdue for a movie series.
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If JAGUART is indeed a female, could she possibly see her way to sending a picture of hersel with those erect nipples so Hrry can post it? Thankee kindlee.
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JOHN CARTER should be played by someone like Viggo Mortensen. Mortensen has that Tarzan look, just like Joe Lara.
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I say Jackman all the way, if he isn't wrapped up doing X-Men.
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There really are no other acceptable choices. So listen up here Paramount, if you want my money then you better give this starring role to Gilbert Gottfried! If you don't I will not give you a dime to see this clunker. Not a nickel. Not a penny. So do the right thing and cast Gilbert Gottfried! Thank you.
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Guys like Jackman and Mortensen are soon to be A-level movie stars. They wouldn't risk their careers shooting a film that'll have them running around in a loincloth, uttering awkward dialogue and risk looking foolish. Bet on a B-level actor, or a name guy from a TV show to play the part. Why do you think The Rock is playing The Scorpion King and not Vin Diesel?
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... is Mary Herron
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Yes Viggo and Jackman would do a good job. But the best is a new face who is willing to be the franchise. I hope they get a director who pays attention to detail like Jackson. This movie could be so special if the backgrounds look really cool.
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Dang it...this should go to Hugh Jackman! I mean, look at the guy. He looks like a young Clint Eastwood/young Frank Frazetta! Look at some of Frazetta's John Carter paintings. I can see ol' Hugh swinging that sword. As for the movie being a bit too "pulpy" for today's audiences, well...that might be a tough one. But I look at the Star Wars franchise with the Gungans, and wookiees and such. If it is played straight AND if the story has a feel of discovery and danger about it, it will work. Ahhh...I can see it now. The Henson Creature shop could do some snappy animatronic critters and some digital effects house can jazz them up. Harry you tease! I have to wait HOW long for this movie??! Aaarrghh!
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Despite what the producer says, I think this concept will need to be altered a little. The stuff about John being a Civil War vet who fought for the South might stay, but I think they'll need to have him fight for the freedom of enslaved/oppressed humans as a way to "redeem" the character (for having fought for the Confederacy) in the eyes of the audience. Second, they can't set this on the planet Mars. No freakin' way. (Never mind that today's audience wouldn't buy the premise for a second; there have been a number of films set on and or using Mars in the title which have flopped.) The planet will have to be a fictitious one in a galaxy far, far away. And a number of the alien and creature designs would have to be redone to make them more "real" and cool. And of course no human female is going to be prancing around with their breasts exposed. Otherwise, I think this could work if it's pitched and reformatted as a "Gladiator meets Lord of the Rings and Star Wars" concept.
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He's been playing John Carter for years now!
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If they don't set this on Mars, and have John fight for the freedom of humans in a big-ass grand finale battle, then the mainstream moviegoer might be more interested. I don't think any of the books can be directly brought to the screen. Don't you geek-twats here see that they are cheesy and outdated (with their barely veiled racism and sexism)?! The books are better served as inspiration material for an original screenplay. Imagine a bloody Civil War battle as the opening scene, which is contrasted later in the movie with John leading humans in battle against alien freakazoids! That would make a SHIT-LOAD of money! And it should be Matt McConaughey. Jackman is already with another franchise, and I doubt he'd bother taking part in another one if he could help it. FUCK -- a lot of you man-boy geeks here simply need to have a better grip on Hollywood reality when it comes to speculating/whacking off to things like this.
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No picks of me and my nips. Why don't you rent one of Ben Affleck's fine films and get your freek on that way?
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Apr 15, 2002 3:08:10 AM CDT
Adrian Paul as John Carter, (already knows how to use a sword),
by grimly64
Some of the people in this talk back, are becoming just as bad as execs, when it comes to changing a book translation to film. My suggestions for John Carter are; Adrian Paul (wouldn't have to train him to use a sword) How about Michael T. Weiss who played "Jarod" on "The Pretender"
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Sure you would have to put hair on him....but...eh...?
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Lots of interesting ideas. I had in mind that some futuristic high-tech firm grabbed John Carter off a battlefield just as his side was about to win, because they have no qualms about stealing people from other times to test their quantum transport system (no-entities don't have legal rights). John finds out that his troops all got kill without him, and he is PISSED. He forces the tech-boys (or maybe a major tech-babe) to help him go back, and unfortunately he goes a billion years back, and to Mars to boot. Chaos theory could fill the plot hole here.
Okay, all that is to get to the subject of Dejah Thoris. She's a mammal all right, and cute, but she has four breasts! And other interesting anatomical features/secrets, but you'll have to beat me up to find out. So, how should she dress? I was think ing all the right or the left, or top or bottom, but not all four. Make for some creative shots.
Then John finally gets his chance to kick butt, and change history, albeit on another planet, and in another time. Adrian Paul would be good at this. -
Apr 15, 2002 11:34:13 AM CDT
Grimly64, I like your suggestion of Adrian Paul or Michael T. We
by wardog
Personally, I'd still like ROBERT PATRICK to play him, but I don't call the shots. Seems the predominant feeling is for Hugh Jackman or Matthew McConaughey. Maybe if I'd seen McConaughey in some actioner or fantasy or SF film I'd be for him more. I guess he could handle the Southern accent. Where is he from anyway? ****** As for Dejah Thoris...what's this about FOUR BREASTS? I don't recall that at all! When JC sees her for the first time he describes her as "...similar in every detail to the earthly women in my past life." And, "She was as destitute of clothes as the green Martians who accompaniend 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." Gee, if she'd had four breasts ERB would have mentioned it, don't you think? ***** But, lessee, she's got to be petite and raven-haired (they can always use make-up to color her skin coppery), how about Winona Ryder? Lacey Chabert? Anna Paquin?
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Rhys Ifans IS JOHN CARTER! With Kate Winslet as the Martian princess.
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Get Marc Ducascos for this part please. Seriously. This guy is a born warrior to begin with. Other than a good acter he is a great fighter. Marc - if you are reading this get your agent working!!
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Love the the time/space tripping element, I've always thought that the only thing that has kept this project stalled is the lack of a plausable way of getting J.C. on Mars in the first place. Solve that problem, and the rest of the story can follow the books as they were written. I must object to the additional breasts on Deja Thoris. Besides being a huge turn off , it'll just look stupid (think back to Total Recall) She needs to stay as close to the Frazetta incarnation as possible and if this means finding an unknown to fill out her practically nonexistant costume well I'm up for forming a posse right now. Seriously , keeping her humanoid just makes sense, especially if this is a Mars from several million years ago. This might imply that a dying planet ultimately resettled on Earth, hence the similar physiques. And no getting creative with her alien makeup, this isn't the Star Trek universe for god's sake. Although outside of the humans, I'd like to see all the rest of the world as CGI crazy as they want to make it .
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Rufus Sewell!!! He'd make a perfect John Carter! I'm not saying that Hugh Jackman would be bad necessarily, I'm just saying that Rufus Sewell would convince me that he is a southern gentleman more readily than Hugh would. That and he can do the "I will take no shit" look better than any of the other actors that have been mentioed for the part. Jackman has the snarly ass kicker thing down, but that's not what the role calls for. It needs a little class, and a little of the confident, calm, and in control hero vibe. It needs Rufus Sewell!
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Also, it makes a great setup for our hero if the wonder-folks at Quantum Inc. screw up. I've always wanted to see a scifi movie where the hero from the past isn't dazzled at all by the techno wonders, just annoyed. (Edison wouldn't need more than a busy hour or two to come up to snuff with 2002, for example.)
Here's some dialogue:
TECHY 1: Relax, John. We've just saved you from certain death on the battlefield! History says you and all your men were wiped out.
JOHN: That's because I set an ambush, and the men were waiting for my signal. You idiots made that history happen.
TECHY 2: Well, we can't go back and changes things now can we?
JOHN: [pulls out a derringer and puts it to Techy1's temple]. That's exactly what you're going to do, maggot!
[Pan to Techy 2, who playing along with John, makes a change in the sixth decimal place in the settings, muttering 'interesting' to himself]
TECHY2: Okay, John. We agree. Just get on the platform...
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As for Dejah Thoris, okay, you win. You've got a better idea. However, you will need to manufacture some plausible way for a modern human to travel across nearly a billion years. You could do it by supplying the answer to the appearance of the Cro-Magnons with that one.
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There are a ton of really cool stories by Robert E. Howard that could be made into movies. They are short and simple enough to make a full adaptation without needing to drop a bunch of the story. Like The 13th Warrior, which was obviously inspired by REH, and was a damn fine adventure movie, in my opinion. There's a lot more where that came from, just read some non-Conan REH stories. Similar vein as Burroughs, but much cooler and grounded in reality. Nobody else evokes the gritty yet opulent and atmospheric visuals like REH. Also, whoever suggested Frazetta as a deisgn inspiration is on the right track. Come to think of it, the flesh-eaters in The 13th Warrior looked exactly like they were designed or inspired by Frazetta.
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Rufus Sewell is the only candidate mentioned so far that can give that "I won't take any shit from you OR the person standing to your immediate left" look, without moving his eye(s). He's one of those actors that is like a chameleon; not that he blends into different roles, but because his eyes point in different directions. Matthew McConaughey is the obvious choice, but I doubt he'll do it. He's got the coolest southern accent of any binocular actor.
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Apr 15, 2002 7:34:18 PM CDT
Hey! If I've never read any of these books but want to...whi
by superhero
Hmmmmmm...? Fill my ignorant head with knowledge!
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Some of you folks certainly do think like producers. That's not meant as a compliment.
If there's one thing that should be clear from the success of LORD OF THE RINGS and HARRY POTTER, it's that faithful adaptions do VERY well at the b.o. The Martian Series has been wildly popular for over 90 years now all over the world. It hasn't enjoyed that success because editors have been tampering with it and updating it constantly, but because it's still unlike anything else most people have ever read (despite its countless imitations). Any adaption that snips away the things that make it different is going to flop.
The best example of this is Carter's method of reaching Mars. Change it to a rocket ship or some other scientific claptrap and it might as well be a completely different story. Carter's astral projection--allowing him to traverse space (and time?)--is no less unbelievable than Star War's The Force. Audiences bought The Force and they'll buy Carter's "instant of extreme cold and utter darkness" just as readily, if it's properly presented. More readily, actually, because it'll be a new and stunning idea to most of them.
Remember, the Martian Series is the granddaddy of Star Wars, Dune, and a whole host of other, more recent science fantasy. It was the direct inspiration of Flash Gordon. (William Randolph Hurst sat on a proposal for a John Carter Sunday strip for months while Alex Raymond got Flash ready.) Despite its age, most viewers have never seen anything like this onscreen--until now it wouldn't have been possible to film.
Don't clutter it up with PC ideology (which isn't necessary anyway--Barsoom is filled with brave, plucky females, and interracial friendship is one of the central themes of the opening trilogy) and avoid all the contemporary cliches. We don't need a wise-cracking hero, flatulence jokes, or buxom gals with too much testosterone. Film it the way it was written--Victorian morality and all--and the result will be so different that it will be dazzling.
And by the way, the reason film companies pay big bucks to license works in the public domain is that these works ARE NOT in the public domain in most of the world outside the USA. (Later books in the series are still protected here, too.) You can't spend this kind of money to make a film that can only be shown domestically. In addition, "John Carter," "Dejah Thoris," "Tars Tarkas," and possibly other character were trademarked as recently as four or five years ago for the series of Trendmaster toys, which are probably still on the shelves.
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Munango has made some fine points here, but did he notice the Frodo was saved in the novel by Glorfindel the Elf Lord, and not by Arwen? Just a small point, but Arwen's character was nearly completely rewritten--borrowing from the appendix--and also what happened to Legolas' blindfold when they were entering Lorien? Lots of small changes were made, some good, some bad. I agree with the Victorian thing though; it would have been better to have remembered this for the TIME MACHINE also. People are ready for good manners and Victorian sensiblities again. Enough with the flatulence jokes!
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it just goes to show how successful the hollywood brainwashing has been. Listen to yourselves! why don't we throw in a cute little space monkey for the kids? i read all of the MARS books when i was a teen. all hardback, with b&w illustrations by FRAZETTA, in addition to his covers. if it doesn't look like his work, i won't go. if it's not rated R, i won't go. if it is reimagined, updated, or otherwise butchered, i won't go. on how he gets there, why not a WORMHOLE? also, while he started out in the 1800s on earth. i don't remember if it was supposed to be the same timeframe on mars, and don't see why it couldn't be way in mars' past. throw a few hints, and if the morons don't get it, it's because they are morons, screw 'em. M. McC., no way. i vote for Robert Patrick. that Varela chick looks like a good D. T., and i say Del Toro for director. i lay odds it will be suited to death. QUOTE OF THE DAY: we are all born mad, some of us remain so.
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The opening trilogy:
A PRINCESS OF MARS
THE GODS OF MARS
WARLORDS OF MARS
THE MASTER MIND OF MARS and CHESSMEN OF MARS are also very good. And the very last one, SKELETON MEN OF JUPITER, written when Burroughs was very old, is a brilliant self-parody!
Remember when the books were written! Don't be like those mopes who start reading Shakespeare, then toss it aside, saying, "It's too cliched!" BURROUGHS INVENTED THE CLICHES YOU MOPES!!!!
A PRINCESS OF MARS is available online at http://www-2.cs.cmu.edu/People/rgs/pmars-table.html.
Here are the opening paragraphs. As you read them, imagine being a kid in 1912 - before World War I - when cars and telephones were still kind of rare. Imagine milking the cows, and then going down to the general store, picking up a copy of "All-Story Magazine," opening it up -- and having your untrained brain explode.
READ IT ALOUD.
A PRINCESS OF MARS
CHAPTER I
ON THE ARIZONA HILLS
I am a very old man; how old I do not know. Possibly I am a hundred, possibly more; but I cannot tell because I have never aged as other men, nor do I remember any childhood. So far as I can recollect I have always been a man, a man of about thirty. I appear today as I did forty years and more ago, and yet I feel that I cannot go on living forever; that some day I shall die the real death from which there is no resurrection. I do not know why I should fear death, I who have died twice and am still alive; but yet I have the same horror of it as you who have never died, and it is because of this terror of death, I believe, that I am so convinced of my mortality.
And because of this conviction I have determined to write down the story of the interesting periods of my life and of my death. I cannot explain the phenomena; I can only set down here in the words of an ordinary soldier of fortune a chronicle of the strange events that befell me during the ten years that my dead body lay undiscovered in an Arizona cave...
Remember, this was Burrough's first novel, way before Tarzan. Nobody had ever written anything like this before.
If that doesn't make you want to read the rest, I don't know what you're made of.
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Lots of good stuff. Comparing John Carter's astral-travelling experience to the Force is a very good argument. But think. We didn't get whacked over the head with the use of the Force in ANH at all; Darth sensed Princess Leia on board the escape pod, but there wasn't anything screaming at us to say: "Look! He's got a psychic power!" Even Obiwan just seemed like a good martial artist, who had 'eyes in the back of his head'. The point is, one of the things that made ANH so interesting is how the Force was presented to us with great subtlety. It's only in ESB that we get big demostrations.
I for one would like to see John Carter as a Southern major-general, determined to bring those damned Yankees to their knees, and thwarted from doing so. It's called CHARACTERIZATION; he's now got a MISSION, and on the way he'll become a slave himself, and learn what it feels like. That's better writing that ERB put into the story, sorry. A good comparison is Francis Ford Coppolla's rewrite of Bram Stoker's Dracula. Instead of a monster with good teeth and bad breath, we get a mystical larger-than-life warrior (more like Anakin Skywalker!) who is terribly betrayed, and screws up bigtime.
So what if John Carter gets to be a bit more 3-D. That's what Shakespeare did in all his plays. Everybody knew who the Prince of the Danes was, before Shakespeare ever wrote the thing.
Gosh, this is fun! -
And remember, whomever is picked to play John Carter, will not be wearing a shirt most of the time. Will be jumping alot. And has a son, (so no women with four breasts please.) I like Mark Dacascos's work, but, (no disrepect intended) is too short.
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You can't have too much of a good thing, and if anyone's interested, I know this great website... 8^D nevermind mr chameleon, I got the joke. Anyway, I don't care who plays DJ as long as she looks good in a chainmail bikini.
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I really don't think we see enough of Clint Howard these days.
When is Gentle Ben coming to DVD? -
Who says Carter has to look good with his shirt off?
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Smallville's Clark Kent certainly isn't rough on the eyes, either with or without shirt...
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In the John Carte series, I think most of the Martian races wore loincloths and upper-torso harness (mainly for weapons). Now, that could allow for exposed breasts (cool!) or a halter-top/bra system which would be almost as cool. Don't want our heroine bouncing around too much on film. Hmmm, speaking of bouncing...Angelina Jolie might make a good Dejah Thoris. She's already essayed a plucky heroine role, even if the movie sucked overall. ***** As for Matt McConaughey, he's from Texas, I hear, hence his soft Southern accent. He just might work. Hell, this is a potboiler fantasy-adventure series. POPCORN! No great range of acting required, just derring-do to make it fun.
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For SUPERHERO, start with the first novel, known as A PRINCESS OF MARS (not the title as originally written, but it is the title under which is best known). The first three novels form a trilogy. If you read them you need not read the rest, which rapidly decline in quality after the fourth, THUVIA, MAID OF MARS. The final novel, JOHN CARTER OF MARS, is not a novel at all but two stories simply thrown together. None of the novels, which were originally prepared as serial chapters much like the writing of Dumas, are particularly good or easy reading. But it is a classic concept, the first of its kind except for British author Edwin Arnold's MARS novel, which predated PRINCESS and which ERB may or may not have used for inspiration.
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Deja Thoris didn't have four breasts, nor should she. Remember Carter's from Earth--he's only got two hands for crying out loud. Anyway, as for the technical argument of whether or not Hollywood could make four breasts look believable or not, rent THE WARRIOR AND THE SORCERESS. It's a made-in-Argentina David Carradine(!) movie that adapts the old Kurosawa plot from YOJIMBO to a sword & sorcery setting. Y'all will love it; it got blood, violence, weird-looking monsters, violence, a drowning fetish, violence and naked orgies galore. And the four-breasted sorceress is done pretty convincingly, to boot.
And here's a weird thought for Deja Thoris: Angelina Jolie. Yeah, she's a little scary, but maybe that could translate well to being an other-worldy Martian. -
I can't leave this subject without touching (heh, heh) this breast topic. First Shannon Elizabeth (?) (of American Pie)is the leading contender for a top set. Also Laticia Casta (?)(but does she speak English?). I don't remember a mention of 4 though.
But I did read the books a long time ago. But what the hell is CGI for if not a perfect set of 4 I ask you?
PS> If we are looking for good old SF for film, how about 'Tiger, Tiger', by Alfred Bester, one of my all time favorites. It would make a terrific film. Does anybody else remember it? -
Michael Whelan is good and all but compared to Watkiss? Not even close, especially when it comes to visual development. Check out the pre-production art he did in "Art of Tarzan" and "Art of Atlantis" hardbacks.
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Having trouble seeing anyone currently acting as John Carter (although as I said, I'll deal with it and be glad to see it made finally), Ben Affleck wouldn't be a joke, it would be an outrage; Hugh Jackman looks the part , but I wonder if he could carry the accent or the "vibe"; I suppose I'll breakdown and look at Kate and Leopold :-P. Our friend from the Brotherhood of the Wolf? I like him alot- but did you actually read these books? Did you read any of the description of the strapping man Capt. John Carter [ret.] that ERB meticulously repeated at the outset of every story that featured our hero? I hope to see Mr. Dacascos in alot of coming films...
I like Fleagle's idea of Greg Peck. What a shame. Whatever the casting, I can't wait to see what they do with fliers. Can you imagine what can be done with CGI plant men, synthetic men, Apts, Thoats, Banths, and not least CGI Kaldanes!! I better go brush up on my Jetan. -
Having trouble seeing anyone currently acting as John Carter (although as I said, I'll deal with it and be glad to see it made finally), Ben Affleck wouldn't be a joke, it would be an outrage; Hugh Jackman looks the part , but I wonder if he could carry the accent or the "vibe"; I suppose I'll breakdown and look at Kate and Leopold :-P. Our friend from the Brotherhood of the Wolf? I like him alot- but did you actually read these books? Did you read any of the description of the strapping man Capt. John Carter [ret.] that ERB meticulously repeated at the outset of every story that featured our hero? I hope to see Mr. Dacascos in alot of coming films...
I like Fleagle's idea of Greg Peck. What a shame. Whatever the casting, I can't wait to see what they do with fliers. Can you imagine what can be done with CGI plant men, synthetic men, Apts, Thoats, Banths, and not least CGI Kaldanes!! I better go brush up on my Jetan. -
I'm obviously all for it if it can capture the book like LOTR or HP:tPS.
A couple things though...
John Carter has black hair so the actor better have a good dye job (why the frick could Arnold not have dyed his hair for Conan?)
The designers should look at Gil Kane's art from the Marvel comic of the late 70's.
Second, the actors. Jeffery Hunter would have been perfect back in the 60's, today I don't know. Caspar Van Diem was pretty good Tarzan and all ERB heroes are pretty similar.... For DT how about Catherine Zeta Jones or Jennifer Connely? Who say Deejah Thoris and red martian have to be Euro-Caucasian painted red? What about Halle Berry, Lucy Lui, or the woman who was inteh Time Machine? -
On Casting:
John Carter is Tall, Dark Haired and Grey Eyed, Broad Shouldered. Matthew McCo..... is skinny blond dude.
John Carter is basically a Tarzan clone with Southern Manners. ERB wrote Tarzan.
On Racism:
That is the whole point of the stories (other than action). You may not think Burroughs had any higher goals than writing boyish fantasy but that is why he made the hero a Confederate soldier,and a fighter of Indians out west not a Yankee. He gets sent to a world where a Red race is the most advanced (and later finds out a Black race is considered the oldest civilization). Everyone fights along racist lines but Carter learns to make friends across groups and this helps him survive and everyone help each other. This is called character growth and is what movies need (but you don't have to hit us over the head with it and give speaches about "why can't we all just get along")
On Nudity:
Despite the Franzetta illustrations nowhere in the books does it say women ran around with their breasts hanging out. Carter does arrive naked and they only mention people wearing Harnesses and not much else but the stories were written before the 1920's. Women wore like six layers of underware before the flappers became fashionable. For a writer to mention then that a women was almost naked that could have meant she was in a sundress with her ankles showing. To put it in movie terms, people thought "Psycho " had a too much blood and violence in it. Ask a movie writer today to describe "too much blood and violence". It would give a 50's audience a herat attack.
Illustrations later were created to help sell books. The pulps always had a semi-nude illustration on the cover. Costuming for the movie could be done tastefully and creatively. This is a collection of alien cultures thousand of years old. It could be sexy but tasteful.
P.S. I don't remember Deja Thoris having 4 breasts. She might have but it wasn't mentioned that I can recall. She did lay eggs though. That is mentioned.
Finally: the age of the setting of Mars. It is implied in the stories that John Carter travels though Time and Space. In the 1800's and early 1900's it was thought that Mars had canals that brought water from the poles to dying cities. That is where the setting comes from. A once mighty civilization that could build planet wide canals but is now dead. John Carter travelled back to when it was still dying. Whenever he goes back he does not know the time or place he will end up. 90% of people don't even know where Mars is and most people I know still use "aliens" and "martians" interchangeably. Setting the story on Mars would be fine. Don't try to make it more believable by changing the location to the other side of the galaxy or giving JC a rocketship. The idea that aliens that evolved on the other side of the galaxy could look anything like human beings or can interbreed and have children with humans is much less plausible than the idea that Mars may have had a civilization 100,000 years ago that is now ground into dust and our probes find no trace of it. If Mars once had life it probably would have shared chemical makeup and DNA with ours (meteorites from Mars have been found on Earth, if bacteria arrived on Earth from Mars or vice versa, it could have become the basis for all subsequent evolution. This is all unlikely but much more likely than 4 breasted egg laying humans evolving on Vega)
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zinc_chameleon, you told us
``But think. We didn't get whacked over the head with the use of the Force in ANH at all; Darth sensed Princess Leia on board the escape pod, but there wasn't anything screaming at us to say: "Look! He's got a psychic power!"``
zinc_chameleon, I find your lack of faith... disturbing.
Darth's power was pretty obvious.
``Even Obiwan just seemed like a good martial artist, who had 'eyes in the back of his head'.``
"You don't need tosee his identification."
"We don't need to see his identification."
We didn't get any telekinisis 'till Empire, but the Force was in full effect. JC separating from his body will make his transport to Barsoom seem reasonable. Also, Tangor has been working on this. I doubt that Paramount will have the sense to use his ideas, but...
Now, for all of you wondering about Martian clothing (), I would suggest that you check out:
http://www.geocities.com/hillmans16/erbz438.html
I should mention in particular that, when JC first meets Dejah Thoris, he is stark staring buck-ass nude. About DT he says:
``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.``
I think that the Tharks took her harness when they captured her. Anyway, if all the violence and gore is left in, this movie will be rated R, so why worry about bare boobies? But only two per woman, please. Don't get me wrong; I like tits. A lot. But two per woman is sufficient. Besides:
``And the sight which met my eyes was that of a slender, girlish figure, similar in every detail to the earthly women of my past life.`` -
Still no sign of it. No pictures, no leaks, no nothing.
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