John Carter of Mars becomes animated by Pixar

[tecnowraith]

Well guys and gals, it looks like it will be Pixar that will be doing buying the rights Jon Carter and it becomes animated. Source: http://www.mania.com/53345.html

Disney and Pixar are in final negotiations to acquire the film rights to the Edgar Rice Burroughs novel series John Carter of Mars.

The series tells of a Civil War officer named John Carter who is transported to Mars and finds himself a captive of the savage green men from Thark. Carter eventually rises to become a great warrior, marries a princess, raises a family and embarks on numerous adventures.

The series is the epitome of Development Hell, having been at Disney in development for most of the 1990's before heading to Paramount Pictures in 2002. Multiple directors have been attached to either an animated or live action version of the series, including: Robert Rodriguez, Kerry Conrad, Jon Favreau, Jeffrey Katzenberg and John McTiernan.

Paramount relinquished the rights about a year ago, and the series had been untouched until a month ago, when Pixar came calling.

A representative of the Burroughs estate said the studio was acquiring the live-action rights for a possible tent pole franchise. However, sources at Disney believed Mars to be headed for animated adaptation.

 

[Hand of Evil]

Oh, well, best we can hope for is that it is enjoyable.

 

[horacethegrey]

Well, I never thought much of Pixar until I saw The Incredibles, and if John Carter of Mars is to be a success, it must be of the same quality as that of the aforementioned film.

Oh, and under no circumstance should they kiddify this. John Carter is macho hero surrounded by a bevy a nearly naked beauties. I wanna see some skin! (albeit CGI skin at that )

 

[Wombat]

In a lot of ways, I trust Pixar. They did something I thought was impossible -- created G-rated films that I would actually go out of my way to watch (Monsters, Inc.). And with The Incredibles they have shown they are willing to stretch beyond strictly G.

My thought is that this might be a showcase for their talents, an attempt to say, "We are more than just an affiliate of Disney". I am certainly willing to give them the benefit of the doubt.

 

[Berandor]

Could be they're going the "Final Fantasy" route – having an adult animated movie. That might tank, or work out really well. I'm not a fan of the original, but if done at least at a PG-13 level, I'll watch this thing.

 

[tecnowraith]

Some more news...
http://www.chud.com/index.php?type=news&id=8539

JOHN CARTER OF... DISNEY?
01.16.07
By Devin Faraci
Contributing sources: TMZ, Don Murphy
UPDATE! Did the Burroughs estate decide? Variety just ran a story saying Disney is optioning the John Carter books... but they add no new information beyond what TMZ reported last week. It's odd to see no quotes from anyone. Could the trade be stealing stories from the web again?

Some projects never go away. For a while John Carter of Mars, the other famous series of books from Tarzan creator Edgar Rice Burroughs, was in development with Jon Favreau as the director and Aint It Cool News’ Harry Knowles as one of the producers. That fell apart, though, and Favreau moved on to Iron Man.

Now gossip site TMZ is reporting that the Burroughs estate is about to sell the film rights to the 11-volume series, beginning with A Princess of Mars, to Disney. But is that really the case? Knowing that legendary producer Don Murphy has been involved in the efforts to get this movie to the screen over the last few years, I gave him a call to see what’s what.

I caught Don on location in Vancouver, where he’s on the set of While She Was Out, a Kim Basinger-starring indie thriller he described as “hardcore.” Don happily gave me the inside poop on just where a potential A Princess of Mars movie is at the moment.

The Burroughs estate hasn’t finalized a Disney deal, Murphy says, and he doesn’t see why they necessarily would. Don’s working with Walden Media, the folks behind The Chronicles of Narnia movies, and he says that part of their offer is a guarantee to have a film in production in 18 months. Disney, meanwhile, is making no such offer, and is in fact interested in sitting on the film for Andrew Stanton, the director of Finding Nemo. Apparently Stanton wants to do a live action movie, and John Carter is what he fancies… but he’s lined up to do Pixar’s post-post-Ratatouille film, meaning he wouldn’t get started on John Carter, at the earliest, until next decade.

Whoever ends up with John Carter’s rights, we’re going to see a PG/PG-13 version. Don told me that when Fox was interested, they wanted to do a Conan the Barbarian-style R-rated movie, but Walden’s whole mission is about family-friendly fare. Disney, meanwhile, is refocusing on only making blockbusters, and you have a better chance of making John Carter of Mars a blockbuster if you keep it PG or PG-13.

Will we ever see A Princess of Mars on the big screen? My gut tells me that if Disney gets it, and holds it for Stanton, we might not. Who knows whether Stanton will still be interested three or more years from now? This film has languished in development hell for years, and may yet linger there longer.

 

[Gomez]

Here is some more news.

February 7, 2007: The Walt Disney Studios and Academy Award(R)-Winner Director Robert Zemeckis and Producing Partners Form New Company That Will Produce 3D Performance Capture Films

The multi award-winning team of Robert Zemeckis, Jack Rapke and Steve Starkey join forces with The Walt Disney Studios to set-up a new performance capture film company, it was jointly announced by Dick Cook, chairman, The Walt Disney Studios and producer/director Robert Zemeckis.

The company will create films using the performance capture technology, a technique of digitally recording actors' movements that are fed into a computer allowing for the development of state-of-the-art 3D motion pictures.

Zemeckis, Rapke and Starkey will produce all of the films with Zemeckis expected to direct a number of the projects. The Walt Disney Studios will distribute and market the motion pictures worldwide.

In making the announcement Cook said, "The creation of this new company is yet another step in our leadership role in cutting edge technology as it relates to the movie industry." Cook continued, "Bob is an amazing director who continues to push the envelope in creating the best in cinematic experiences. Along with his partners, Jack and Steve, they are one of the finest producing teams in the business. They have a real pulse on the future of motion pictures especially as it pertains to the creativity and technology of motion capture and 3D film experiences. They are true leaders in every sense of the word and we are proud to be partners with them in this new endeavor."

Zemeckis added, "Jack, Steve and I are looking forward with great excitement to be working with Dick Cook and his team. In addition to being an enthusiastic champion of 3D movies, The Walt Disney Studios is committed to the advancement of digital cinema in all areas including performance capture."

Zemeckis, along with executive producing partner Rapke and producer Starkey, first used this innovative film technology of performance capture when he directed the highly successful animated feature film "Polar Express."

Following up on the success of "Polar Express," Zemeckis was executive producer on his second performance capture film, the Academy Award-nominated Best Animated Film "Monster House," with Rapke and Starkey producing. Additionally, Zemeckis is directing and producing the performance capture film, "Beowulf," with Rapke and Starkey also producing. The film is due out in theaters in 2007.

Among some of their other credits are: "Castaway" -- Zemeckis director and producer and Rapke and Starkey producers; "What Lies Beneath" -- Zemeckis director and producer and Rapke and Starkey producers; "Contact" -- Zemeckis director and producer and Starkey producer; "Forrest Gump" -- Zemeckis received an Academy Award for Best Director and Starkey was awarded the Best Picture Oscar for his role as producer; "Back to the Future" trilogy -- Zemeckis directed and Starkey served as associate producer on part 2 and 3 and "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" -- Zemeckis directed and Starkey was associate producer.

Disney Press

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January 23, 2007: Angry Films joins forces with PIXAR
Couldn't help but notice on IMDB.com that Angry Films is now listed with Pixar under Production Companies. Check out http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0401729/companycredits Angry Films has been involved in projects such as the League of Extraordinary Gentlement and the upcoming Transformers movie (which, when I saw it's Mars-based teaser one day in the theater I could have sworn it some super secret teaser for JCOM and nearly flipped out until the title credits came on)! What a great company to bring on board! Will post more news as I find it... things are finally moving again!! Whoo hoo!



January 22, 2007: All signs point to PIXAR
JCOM's recent aquisition by Disney has sparked a lively debate among several listserves. Speculation about what treatment the movie will receive has run rampant. Given Disney's capabilities and history, the movie could have gone into one of the three types of movies Disney does: Live Action, 2D Cell animation or 3D CG (ie: Pixar). Well folks, the mystery's over. Personally, I would have though Live Action would have been the route, but to my surprise Pixar will most likely be getting the movie.

I am both excited and horrified about this. Excited because it might actually get done now. Pixar has a great track record of completing projects once in their queue. There will probably much less internal politics with Pixar at the helm. I'm horrified because I don't want to see John Carter utter the phrase "To Infinity and Beyond!" and have Mars with a bright blue sky, vibrant and colorful foliage and neon green Tharks.

To me, Pixar movies have a very consistent style and color palette. It's a wonderful style, don't get me wrong, just not what I would deem appropriate for JC. Pixar excels in what they do because they write most of their own storylines. Their story lines, writing style and wit is one of the things that makes Pixar films so successful. I am very nervous with them taking on a project written in a style so (excuse the pun) "ALIEN" to their previous experience. I think we can assume that our hoped for 90% accurate to ERB is gonna go out the window.

I hope they can change their style to suit the more early 30-50's sci-fi genre that this film needs (my personal preference which I why I was such a shill for Conran). This may well be the case considering their latest movie "Meet the Robinsons" which has a somewhat retro 50's feel to it. If they can reach outside their box, and turn this more into the EPIC that it is, I would be VERY EXCITED. This is because Pixar is the undisputed leader in quality character animation and emotion. Their characters never look "wooden" or "hollow" because they never try to do more than the technology allows. Thus, it's doubtful we'll see a photo-realistic portrayal of JC. It's probably gonna be a cartoon representation. Sure, a movie like Final Fantasy had some amazing visuals, and IMHO the best attempt at realistic people portrayal to date, but even those fell somewhat flat. Photo realism is simply not worth the effort and expense unless you can get it 100%. I would actually prefer a believable cartoon performance to a wooden photo-realistic one. This still isn't necessarily a bad thing if done with the incredible skill and talent Pixar has. Still a very scary proposition for us waiting in the wings.

Anyhoo, here's a few links as to why we're pretty sure it's going to Pixar:

 

[Klaus]

((please let they hire Frank Cho as Consultant Designer, please let they hire Frank Cho as Consultant Designer, please let they hire Frank Cho as Consultant Designer, please let they hire Frank Cho as Consultant Designer...))

 

[sniffles]

I don't know who wrote all the stuff Gomez was quoting, but the person who was worrying about Pixar's style conflicting with the source material hasn't seen enough of Pixar's work. They gained fame from the success of movies like Toy Story and Monsters, Inc., but they're capable of a much wider variety of material.

And they were never an affiliate of Disney, Wombat. They just had a distribution deal with Disney until the recent changes.

I'll be interested to see what Pixar can do with the material. I think they can do a lot. But they'll have to be willing for it not to be a big box-office smash like so many of their past films. I don't think John Carter of Mars is something that's going to draw in the big audiences like Toy Story or even Cars.

 

[Rodrigo Istalindir]

Animated movies for adults are unmitigated box-office flops. Titan A.E. killed the animation branch of 20th Century Fox. Final Fantasy was a financial disaster.

It is almost inconceivable that Pixar would do a non-G-rated version of this. There is some slight hope that they would do so and release it under another studio's name.