The road to cinemas for “Wall-E” director Andrew Stanton’s “John Carter,” an adaptation of the classic Edgar Rice Burroughs sci-fi tale “A Princess of Mars,” has been long and arduous even before the animation whiz climbed aboard to helm the picture. As Stanton’s version of the tale made its way into production, its title was altered and the release date changed from a prime summer spot to a spring bow, while the marketing for the film has been endlessly nitpicked to death by everyone (including us). The truth is this is a huge investment for Disney, and other than the enigmatic but beautiful first teaser and an enjoyable featurette, the film is still somewhat of a mystery.
Well, Disney has certainly heard the outcry of fans, as they’ve released a slew of “John Carter”-related media over the last 24 hours including a handful of clips and a stack of images. First up we have a scene featuring an escape by John Carter (Taylor Kitsch) and Dejah (Lynn Collins) from a pack of extraterrestrial life forms led by Matai (Mark Strong). There’s also another featurette, featuring the cast and crew dissecting the “John Carter” mythos, proclaiming its source material to be the precursor to various sci-fi tropes and films including “Star Wars.” Another batch of “John Carter” clips feature our hero's first interactions with several key characters in the film. Finally, you can take a look at a handful of images below, with more at Collider.
“John Carter” will follow a Civil War vet who’s mysteriously left on Mars, which has lush planted life and is home to a fierce race of alien barbarians, as well as a human-like clan. Once Carter escapes from being a captive member of the barbarians, he meets a princess who is in desperate need of saving. “John Carter” has certainly seemed like a challenging commercial prospect for some time, but creatively, Stanton’s first foray into live-action filmmaking could be at least entertaining, as the clips send off a “Star Wars”-like vibe when coupled with Michael Giacchino’s score. This still has the potential to offer escapist summer thrills at the beginning of March, but we’ll still have to remain cautious with this one.
“John Carter” is in theaters nationwide on March 9th. [THR/Bleeding Cool]
