Next year will celebrate the 100th anniversary of the debut of writer Edgar Rice Burrough’s seminal hero John Carter of Mars. Director Andrew Stanton has been hard at work on bringing the character to the big screen for Disney and is currently shepherding the film through post-production for its March premier.
Late this week we got our first couple of looks at how Stanton has envisioned the amazing world the Civil War vet John Carter discovers when he is magically transported to Mar, or as its four-armed inhabitants refer to is as
The first thing that Disney released was a teaser poster featuring star Taylor Kitsch, at left. I have to say, though, I’m not that enthralled by it. There’s no real visual pizzazz to it. And for another thing, I’m wondering why the letter “M” is on the poster given that Disney shortened the film from its original title of John Carter Of Mars to the far more generic John Carter.
A bit more intriguing are the two pieces of concept art that appeared in an interview with Stanton in the LA Times’ Hero Complex blog. (See below, click for a larger view of each.) Well, this is a little bit more like it – a sprawling, alien city and a mystery airship rising out of the mists.
In the interview, Stanton discuss the challenges in adapting the century old pulp hero for a modern audience who are probably more familiar with the multitudes of films like Star Wars, Dune and Avatar who have drawn inspiration from Burrough’s series. It’s a read that’s well worth your time.
John Carter hits screens on March9, 2012.
