This is the first time since I've been at AICN that I fell for an April 1st story. That's because big chunks of this match rumors we've been hearing for a while. It appears this is a joke, though, so hats off to the Upcoming Pixar guy for connecting the dots in a way I wish was true.

Here's the original story I ran.

God, Harry, I’m sorry, but you’re going to have to indulge me being giddy excited for this announcement.

Brad Bird will direct a live-action JOHN CARTER OF MARS for Pixar, set for release in 2009.

This is an official announcement via Upcoming Pixar, which started life as a Pixar fanblog, but which was recently purchased by Disney to become an official outlet for the studio. This is the first piece of news they’ve broken since the acquisition, and it’s one of the most exciting bits of movie news I’ve ever heard.

Look, I wanted to see the version Harry was attached to produce. I know how hard he and the other producers worked with the various writers to try and pin it down, and the art department Harry put together was incredible. There was some beautiful stuff generated during the couple of years he spent on the project. But Paramount wasn’t ready to make that film, and I was nervous that they were going to slowly but surely dilute it into something half-assed, something that would be a disappointment after all the time fans have spent waiting for this to finally make its way to the bigscreen. And I include Harry among those fans who would rather not see a JOHN CARTER film than see the wrong one, much to his credit.

The idea of Brad Bird taking on this material with a script by Mark Fergus, who is set to co-direct, and with Pixar serving as an effects house for the first time ever... well, that’s goosebump city. Between this and AVATAR, my inner SF nerd is pretty much rabid and frothing. I hope this is the film where Pixar takes a step away from the safety of the PG rating to embrace the material. I don’t think it automatically has to be an R, but I certainly don’t think you can softpedal this and still have it be JOHN CARTER OF MARS.

I’d heard rumors about this, and during my recent trip to Pixar, I had to tread carefully because I knew they were never going to let me get anything on the record. Now that they’ve made the announcement, though, this is on my radar as one of the coolest projects in the works anywhere by anyone.

Congrats to all involved.

Drew McWeeny, Los Angeles