John Carter Of Mars Begins Filming

Published on January 19, 2010 by Martyn Conterio · View Comments

Disney have announced the start of production on John Carter Of Mars. It has begun filming in London and the cast is, well, excellent. Based on the novels by Edgar Rice Burroughs and directed by Andrew Stanton, this is a passion project for the creative team. Stanton has said:

“I have been waiting my whole life to see the characters and worlds of ‘John Carter Of Mars’ realized on the big screen. It is just a wonderful bonus I have anything to do with it.”

The sci-fi adventure stars Taylor Kitsch as John Carter, Lynn Collins as Dejah Thoris and Willem Dafoe as Tars Tarkis. Joining them is Thomas Haden Church, Polly Walker, Samantha Morton, Mark Strong, Ciaran Hinds, Dominic West, James Purefoy and Bryan Cranston. John Carter of Mars is the story of a Civil-War soldier who finds himself, “battling a new and mysterious war amidst a host of strange Martian inhabitants”. Sounds great!

James Cameron’s Avatar was partly inspired by Rice Burroughs’ stories, but Stanton’s film is a more direct interpretation. Will this be a new series of movies for Disney? Stanton’s previous work for Pixar has included Finding Nemo and WALL-E. Expect more news and updates regarding this sci-fi epic in the coming months. John Carter of Mars is due for release in 2012.