Cool News
Michael Chabon confirms polish on JOHN CARTER OF MARS!
Ahoy, squirts! Quint here. This isn't exactly new news, but it's just too cool to let pass without comment.
It's been rumored that author Michael Chabon is doing a pass on Andrew Stanton's adaptation of Edgar Rice Burroughs' A PRINCESS OF MARS (film titled JOHN CARTER OF MARS to make it sound less girly, I guess) and Chabon has come out to comment on it via The Amazing Website of Kavalier & Clay. Here are his words below:
“I’ve been hired to do some revisions to an already strong script by Andrew Stanton and Mark Andrews,” Chabon said. “I wrote my original screenplay The Martian Agent back in 1995 because I wished I could do [Edgar Rice] Burroughs’s Barsoom. So this is pretty much a dream come true for me.”
Now, this is only good news in my book. Chabon is a strong writer, so is Stanton and if Chabon's statement isn't all politics then he's coming in to help with an already good script.
I talked with Stanton in Santa Barbara this January and he was excited about starting up John Carter, but nervous. The words he used were "... it scares the crap out of me. It's either going to make me or break me." I like that he's nervous, honestly. That means he desperately wants to get this movie right. This isn't a payday for him, this isn't an excuse for him, the next rung on the ladder that gets him out of animation. Stanton really cares about this story.
I'm really psyched to see what this looks like. Andrew Stanton doing a live action Barsoom film based on his script with a polish by Michael Forkin' Chabon? The last thing he had a hand in was SPIDER-MAN 2 which is my favorite of the three films. It's all exciting for me. I can't wait to hear who Stanton casts in the movie and each step afterwards all the way up to the release. What about you folks?
-
+ Expand All
-
Chabon is awesome...this gets me on board.
-
Can't wait to see what Stanton does with this (loved Wall-E) and A Princess of Mars is an intriguing book. By the way, this news is days old...
-
But just because of the material and those involved this is cool news.
-
http://www.apple.com/trailers /summit/thehurtlocker/
Amazing film guys, I'm really disappointed there's no real buzz about this one. One of the best films I've seen in a while, and definitely the best live action feature film I've seen on the Iraq war. -
...with Kerry 'Sky Captain' Conran a the helm?
-
Apr 15, 2009 11:52:49 PM CDT
Chabon is 'aight, but I'm glad screenwriters are getting some lo
by noncents
I wonder what Stanton and Andrews' draft was missing. Maybe animation doesn't necessarily mesh with live action.
-
I remember when the project went to pixar AICN didn't post any John Carter news for months. At least the folks in the talkbacks had fun with that hehe.
-
Genius!
-
whats the big deal about this project?!
-
sucked ass. I hope the Martians aren't running around pissing and moaning as much as PP did. Fuck, what a panty waist.
-
Poo. Defecation. As useful as a pork chop at a Jewish wedding. There is nothing about this over the past ten years that has turned into anything worthwhile. It's all poo.I say this as the worlds greatest JCOM fan, because I got into science fiction specifically because my elementary school teacher in Arkansas, when he wasn't taking kids out in the hallway and beating them with the "board of education" for talking back to him, would skip math, skip spelling, skip history...for weeks on end, and read us ALL DAY LONG the John carter of Mars books. The entire class. We got to book 6 before he decided we should learn something else.So when I say this news is poo, and will be poo until the movie begins preproduction, believe me.
-
I'm the world's greatest JCOM fan. Sorry, you'll have to fight for second place.
I share your skepticism about the movie, though. While it's in very good hands, I'm not sure even the greatest producers and screenwriters will ever be able to turn the series into decent movies. It's just too big. -
This bit of news just made me (for the first time) excited for this movie.
-
Why did he have to put that shit in Kavalier & Clay?
-
The Butt Monkey of Mars
-
than kew horrewrewd
-
When teachers could be teachers. Now they watch them all day, stick them in the middle of panopticons designed by the same people who design prisons, make them teach to tests, etc etc. Yep, we'll be number one again for sure. You just watch. lol
-
I really hope I get to see that on a big screen. It was so much better than I expected. Gotta see it again.
-
People in Arkansas can't read. But don't feel bad. I grew up in a state that tried to kill science with rocks.
-
The man makes genius look easy. To glibly state that he is merely a "strong writer" like you're F. Scott Fitzgerald...jesus. Leave it to a bunch of useless fucking nerds to try and knock one of, if not, the greatest writers of this generation.
Oh and Odkin, grow up. I've often found that the most verbal person to hate on homosexuals is usually a closet case. The evidence for this is overwhelming.
The sad state of the modern mind can be summed up in one word on this site, "Talkback". And no need to point out the irony that I'm posting here, this is the first and last time. -
Spider Man 2?
Since when was Spider Man 2 a great cinematic adaptation of a literary sci-fi classic? You talk as though Kubrick has just been resurrected to film "2061 A Space Odyssey".
Has your long-term memory been completely erased? Or have you simply no taste in films at all?
Wake me up when movie journalists stop salivating over shit. -
Seth Rogan is to 'John Carter of Mars' what Will Smith is to 'I Am Legend/I, Robot/Any major sci-fi novel'.
-
If the casting people do not do this, they are insane.
-
If they're bringing in these guys to write it, then this will be on par with the Lord of the Rings trilogy, maybe even better. And I still say Hugh Jackman is my choice for John Carter, so here's a preemptive "FUCK YOU" to you Jackman detractors.
-
the people of Poland.
-
Make it so, Andrew Stanton!
-
Chime. In.
-
pixar growing up...
-
"John Carter of Mars" is simply an awful title. This won't make a dime because of that alone.
-
Damn You Michael Bay
-
Was that movie made and then shelved or what? I thought Natalie Portman was starring in it. "Gentlemen of the Road" needs to be made into a movie, too. That book was just a hell of a lot of fun.
I second the comment about calling Chabon a "strong writer". He is easily one of the best working writers today in any genre. -
I tried to read KAVALIER AND CLAY, and discovered that apparently the key to winning an award is to take a thesaurus with you. My favorite part was when an editor who berates his people was referred to as being vicious in his "flensing." Uh-huh.
-
Yup, thats some good writing right there!
-
First, i take over the city. then... the world!
-
I'm just wondering because it seems to be a big deal around here and I've never heard of it. Wasn't Favreau attached to it at one point? And it was going to be animated? Can someone clue me in. I looked it up and saw it's a series of books about a Civil War vet that somehow ends up on Mars where they are fighting a Civil War. What is so awesome about it?
-
He just said Spidey II was his favorite of the three not proclaim it to be the epitome of comic movie greatness.
-
This is maaaaaarrrrrrrssssssss!!!!!!!
-
these books inspired carl sagan.
-
Just Google it...I believe you can even read it online if you search "Princess of Mars". Plus ANY library or bookstore on earth will have it. Pure pulp enjoyment.
-
...a little too obvious. But man he can do it all. Jackman is MEGA talented and can do anything. The guy really has no limits. I wonder if he'd be down with more big action hero stuff.
-
Apr 16, 2009 9:48:48 AM CDT
If this starts to fall into "Mummy" teritory...
by elvispresleehorsleyharveyoswaldoprahwinf
I honestly hope some geek snaps and hunts the people responsible down and excises them from the Earth like an ass-cancer.
I agree with JCOM sounding a little lame as the films title.
Maybe they should call - The Warlord of Mars - that at least has a kinda fantastic ring to it.
DoctorWho? - Christ man, been beating yourself off to Hugh Jackman much? Jackman is NOT John Carter. He's to short and swarthy and he's not even muscular enough to play an average martian let alone JC. Read the books and descriptions of the characters. -
That's it. I'm not watching.
-
Christian Bale, Billy Crudup, Gerard Butler. I can see all these guys doing good in that role. This should be a very cool movie.
-
Have read the books.
If you've seen Jackman swooshing across stage in Oklahoma or some other musical and then realize this is the same guy who plays Harry Logan you may get an idea of the guys range. Somehow a southern accent doesn't seem to much of hurdle.
Jackman is not "swarthy" but I guess if X-Men is all you've ever seen then I can see why you think that.
And BTW, Elijah Wood was too tall to play a Hobbit and some that worked out ok. -
...you didn't seriously believe that did you?
-
the series is a classic of my adolescence.
be interesting to see what happens with the racist stuff - especially in the later books.
I could live well with four arms. -
the series is a classic of my adolescence.
be interesting to see what happens with the racist stuff - especially in the later books.
I could live well with four arms. -
As an old skool ERB fan from my junior high days (ah, the late 80s) this is actually the John Carter movie I am most hopeful about. I've seen this title bandied about since 88 or so, with Disney wanting to do it with Tom Hanks and John McTiernan as director. Then it went to Paramount, and Harry, and Favs and all manner of permutations. And none of them had me excited. (Although, after seeing some of the William Stout and Syd Mead designs from the Disney production leak out over the years—that may have been a cool-looking production.)But I think Stanton has a good handle on writing characters and creating mood, and although I am not a huge Chabon fan (which makes me in the minority, I know) I trust he is passionate about old pulpy stuff to help in good ways. The thing I'm most worried about now? That Dejah Thoris is beautiful enough and Tars Tarkas looks awesome.
-
I had never heard of a possible Hanks version w/ Syd Mead designs. Not too sure about Hanks in this but Syd rules the galaxy.
And yes Dejah Thoris is key! If I don't fall in love with her instantly all will be lost. A quality actress please but she needs to look as if she walked right out of a Frazetta painting.
-
Jackman isn't short and looks just like the John Carter in Frazetta's illustrations. That's good enough for me. I'll agree that JC of Mars is a lousy title. I don't see anything wrong with calling it A Princess of Mars — no one's going to confuse JC with being the red-skinned princess.
-
is a very very good idea.And whoever said Jackman is too short is retarded, the guy is like 6'4", fanboys still piss and moan that he's not short like Wolverine's supposed to be. Unless John Carter's supposed to be freakishly tall like Manute Bol or Carel Struycken or something, I think Jackman would be ok. I'd prefer an unknown or lesser-known actor, though. Save a few bucks on budget.
-
But the key will be to get the character of Tars Tarkas right.
-
I want it now.
-
Tars Tarkas will clearly be CGI and in my opinion the toughest casting will be Dejah Thoris. With that said I absolutely agree with DoctorWho? on the fact that she should look like in the Frazetta paintings. No skinny bitches, she should definitely have some exaggerated curves *drooooool*
-
Let's be honest, he fucking nailed Wolverine, and that made the X-men movies. Plus, The Prestige, and The Fountain. The guy is a god.
-
Apr 16, 2009 2:06:51 PM CDT
Isn't Seth Rogen considered for all movie parts, Dr. Who?
by leafar the lost
I thought Seth Rogen had become a Hollywood God. On AICN Harry has a talkback for him everyday. If Seth Rogen takes a shit, AICN will have a Talkback "aboot" it. As far as Hugh Jackman goes, I think he is too old to play John Carter. When I read the book the character of John Carter looked like a man of about thirty years old. Hugh Jackman is now 40, and he looks it. The producers need to go younger. For example, Chris Pine is 28, and in a few years he would be perfect for the part.
-
She's a beautiful woman, no doubt, but I don't see her as Dejah. I'd prefer they go a little exotic... maybe pull in an actress from India?. They might look a little more believable with red tinted body makeup.
-
Starts out with the aged former prez building a geodesic hut for a poor Martian family with Habitat for Barsoomery while he begins to narrate his story... then we seque back to the late 1970's as Jimmy is staring out the Oval Office window at the faint light of the distant planet Mars and wishing he was anywhere else but on Earth dealing with multiple crises...
-
I don't even recall, though I do remember him being a seasoned soldier.
Jackman may be 40 but he's a young 40. I used to think Crudup was the ONLY choice but since Watchmen I've backed off him a bit. Both him and Jackmen have that look the filmakers should be shooting for. -
That's what you get for shooting Cap, bitch.
-
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSTER GOOOOOOOOOOOOLLLLLLLLLLLLLLD!
-
Shermdog's joke was probably a little too subtle.
I have ALWAYS cracked up (and gotten wierd looks from family and friends) whenever anyone on E.R. uses the full name of Noah Wyle's character. -
Interesting link to some 1950s Carter comics collection you can read online
http://tinyurl.com/d6s7zd
You're welcome. No, it's not a RickRoll :-) -
I'm a fan of the series, but I can't see them doing it 'as is'. For one thing the characters are supposed to be naked, save maybe for leather straps to hang weapons off of. No way that's going to fly with the studio. Next, nowadays, pretty much everybody knows Mars is a dead world. Or near as makes no difference compared to Barsoom. So perhaps he goes to an alternate reality and takes Barsoom to be Mars?
-
What the fuck are some of you guys smoking? Oh and also add his performance from "The Fountain" to his range.
-
Thank you!
-
He is Southern, he is buffed and he was great in Reign of Fire in an action role. Megan Fox as Dejah THoris or maybe Olga Kurylenko? Djimon Hounsou for the voice of Tars Tarkas!
-
I first saw it randomly flipping channels late night in a hotel. That movie is awesome. I hated the ending... it kept me up all night wondering about the meaning of life and the existence of god and all that shit.
-
I used to think Tera Patrick would have been perfect, before she jumped completely off Skank Mountain.
Now, the best source of a tall, curvaceous brunette with strong Asian facial features (a la Frazetta) would probably be a Thai ladyboy bar. Ask Harry, you know he knows. -
should be in this somewhere...
-
as Tars Tarkas
-
tho I do kinda like the idea of Matthew McConaughey - yeah I'll second that..
and a BIG fuckin NO to the likes of Hugh Jackman, Christian Bale, or Seth Fucking Rogen!
Gerard Butler... nnnnyyyyyyemaybe -
If he is then I guarnetee it will be a disaster. I checked his filmography, and I only see animated movies. I have zero experience in directing, but isn't there a huge difference between directing computer animators and live actors? Will this movie be like, "Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow?
-
'Under the moons of Mars'
That was the Original title when it was first published.
And Deja Thoris should be Morena Baccarin and Thomas Gibson as John Carter.
Although I have reservatiuons about Styantons version of this. He said he made the comment "i;m not doing it exactly the way they do it in the book. I'm doing it more the way I remember it." Also he said he felt that Frazzeta's image of Barsoom and the world of John Carter was kind of old and satle so he is doing a NEW take in it.
Does not sound promising.
And Michael chabon? he has exactly 4 credits on the IMDB and his involvment in genre fiction seems sketchy. I don't know how this translates into him being perfect for this project. -
For the blank multiple posts. New here and just hit the wrong button.
-
Last I heard, he was trying to make it seem like "a National Geographic" take on Barsoom. As if it were almost a documentary-feel like "Planet Earth" or something. "Doing it more the way I remember it" might work. I know that Anthony Minghella wrote his draft of "The English Patient" without referencing the book for the story. He just wrote it from memory. And I think that movie ended up pretty good. (I liked it more than the book, actually.) But, that plan could backfire, too. I have liked Stanton's other movies, so I am curious/hopeful that he captures the same stuff I feel made me fall in love with the books. And although I grew up with the Frazetta books, I also read editions from many different illustrators, so I have an open mind for new looks. (Those Frazetta women, though—delicious!)
-
Not to mention Bard of Esgaroth in the upcoming Hobbit flick.Hope they don't fuck this up as JC of Mars was always one of my favorite ERB series. Mmmm...Dejah Thoris. Just find some babe that matches Frazetta's artwork and you got it made Franky baby! And, yeah, she should run around nekkid as a jay-bird...like there's something wrong with that!
-
Apr 17, 2009 8:43:06 PM CDT
I just may boycott this movie if they don't put Princess back in
by snootyboots
-
I guess he's slinked off in embarrassment now he's been publicly humiliated by a few posters...
And Leafar, that last post was pretty funny. Misspelling guarantee was an especially nice touch, and the redundancy of saying you have zero experience but making such outrageous statements anyway just added to it. Comedy gold my friend! Same as Snootyboots. Great deadpan humour!
Actually it's all good - this thread is one of the most inherently geeky for ages. People earnestly worrying about "Princess" or "John Carter" putting people off when no-one has noticed that if you put "Mars" in the title and have aliens/fantasy creatures in it the average moviegoer (like over 95% of the audience) is just as likely to walk a mile in the opposite direction or think it's a movie from the 50s. Geeks are ironically on another planet. If you put Princess in the title, you'll get a huge audience. The WRONG audience, but billions of dollars for the other Disney princess stuff is as solid as it gets. It'd actually finally teach parents a lesson about offloading their kids on anything that says Disney
The most hilarious thing is that for as much as tb nerds talk about how they hate suits, they're ironically and overwhelmingly similar when it comes to lack of imagination, myopia, literal thinking and moronic casting decisions.
Why has no-one mentioned Nathan Fillion for JC yet? You guys are slipping!
I saw some concept art from I think the Favreau phase (don't quote me) and boy it looked lush and epic. It's a political thing about reusing old development, but I hope at least the mood and grandeur of what I saw (too briefly) makes it through...
Readers Talkback
User Login
Top Talkbacks
- To Commemorate The 3D Release Of STAR WARS EPISODE I: THE PHANTOM MENACE, George Lucas Wants You To Know...Greedo Shoots First!! -- 435 total posts 435 posts
- There's a STAR TREK video game that is going to lead into JJ's STAR TREK 2 apparently... -- 88 total posts 88 posts
- AVENGERS enemy revealed as pink boardgame pieces... You might suffer some form of elation... SPOILERS!!! -- 86 total posts 80 posts
- Rest In Peace Bethesda’s Adam Adamowicz -- 76 total posts 76 posts
- The Sensorties Revisit The Friday Docback (And Still Smell)!! DOCTOR WHO Story #7 Again, The Coming Of Season/Series 7, And More!! -- 69 total posts 69 posts
- Quint travels to Barsoom and visits the John Carter set!!! -- 127 total posts 62 posts
- SPACE 2099!! -- 159 total posts 61 posts
- Friday Brings SWEEPS DAY NINE!! Gab Here About Tonight’s FRINGE!! Plus Einstein on TIM, Wiig On PORTLANDIA, MAHER, CLONE, GIFTED, GRIMM, SPARTACUS, SUPERNATURAL, GOLD RUSH And More!! -- 88 total posts 60 posts
- Wanna smell like the Hulk? What about Cap? Consider yourself a Thunder God or a unisex God of Mischief? -- 58 total posts 57 posts
- Ridley Scott's Next Will Be Cormac McCarthy's THE COUNSELOR! -- 50 total posts 50 posts