John Carter
Disney eventually adaptedJohn Carterfor the big screen in 2012 , but it was far from the first attempt at turn the sci - fi property into a motion picture . decennary beforeStar Warscame to epitomize what multitude recall of as scientific discipline - phantasy , author Edgar Rice Burroughs introduced the earth to a then - new type of hero recognize as John Carter . A former Confederate old stager of the American Civil War - turned hero to the citizen of a fictionalized adaptation of Mars dubbed Barsoom , Carter made his debut in a collection of chapters ( titledUnder the Moon of Mars ) print in the mush mag The All - write up during the early 1900s , and later re - assembled as the novelA Princess of Marsin 1917 .
While not as pop as Burroughs ' other famous foundation , Tarzan , John Carter was still a big hit , and the author would go on to bring out an extra ten novels in the Barsoom series in his lifetime . 95 years afterA Princess of Marwas released , the place finally made the jump to the liberal screen with Disney’sJohn Carter , a massively - budgeted tentpole train by Oscar - winning Pixar veteran Andrew Stanton ( Finding Nemo , WALL·E ) and starring Taylor Kitsch as the eponymous venturer . regrettably , the production was far from a tranquil one , andJohn Carterwould go on to become one of the Mouse House ’s big commercial flops of all - prison term , killing Stanton ’s hopes for a trilogy in the procedure .
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Unsurprisingly , given the popularity of the informant fabric , Stanton ’s movie was far from the first attempt at adaptingJohn Carterfor the ash gray filmdom - in fact , it was n’t even Disney ’s first go at the property . But long before the Mouse House take a blastoff at bring Burroughs ' story to life , they were almost realise as a non - Disney invigorate feature film instead .
Robert Clampett’s Animated Movie
Disney excellently becamethe first American studio apartment to liberate a full - duration animated featurewhenSnow White and the Seven Dwarfsopened in theater in 1937 . However , they were nearly get to the punch by an animatedJohn Cartermovie that Robert Clampett had been working on since as far back as 1931 , when he pitched the motion picture to Burroughs . The latter was stimulate by the estimate , feeling that hot - action ( at the time ) would n’t have been able-bodied to do justice by the antic setting and aliens from his source textile . Clampett and Burroughs ' son , John Coleman Burroughs , even pop off so far as to produce trial run footage for the undertaking , using rotoscope animation technique to check the characters ' move ( like John Carter being able to make massive leap on Barsoom , due to its slim down gravitative pull ) were realistic and convincing .
In the end , MGM passed on the film after exhibitors reacted negatively to the test footage in 1936 , believing theJohn Carterproperty was simply too out - too to appeal to the bulk of American moviegoers . Clampett was approach to work on on an animatedTarzanadaptation after that , but go by and then become known for take numerous classicLooney Tunesshorts , chiefly in the 1930s and ' 40s ( and beyond ) . Stop - movement and visuals effects legend Ray Harryhausen ( Jason and the Argonauts , Clash of the Titans ) later express interested in adaptingJohn Carterfor vitality in the ' 50s , but things never really pass any further than that .
Disney’s John Carter (Starring Tom Cruise)
finally , in the late ' eighty , Disney assume the concealment rights toJohn Carterand set to knead on a alive - action adaptation . The studio hiredfuturePirates of the Caribbeanseries co - writersTed Elliott and Terry Rossio to tackle the screenplay , with an centre on having John McTiernan direct and Tom Cruise ace ( at a meter when both of them were still up and comers ) . During an interview withSlashFilmin 2012 , ILM veteran and manufacturer Jim Morris said the plan was to make the picture show using"a mixture of prosthetics and suit and stop motion,“seeing as CGI was n’t up to the project of bringing Barsoom and its dweller to convince life just yet . This version ofJohn Carterwould’ve cost as much as $ 120 million to produce ( a number that , asSlashFilmpointed out , is probably equivalent to the $ 267 million Disney expend on Stanton ’s version , when adjusted for inflation ) .
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Things did n’t work out out this clock time , either . Cruise was reportedly not a lover of theJohn Carterscreenplay , and McTiernan ( who ’s now famous for having directed ' 80s activeness movie attain likePredatorandDie Hard ) stepped away after determine the visual effects limitations at that clock time made it impossible to do justice by Burroughs ' stories . Interestingly , Cruise was bitten by the sci - fi bug in the other 2000s(prompting him to asterisk in Steven Spielberg’sMinority ReportandWar of the Worlds ) , but was presumptively turn over too old - or maybe just too expensive - to play John Carter by the time Stanton start work on his adaptation later that same decade .
Robert Rodriguez’s John Carter
After Disney failed to move forrad with their originalJohn Carterfilm , the rights retrovert to the Burroughs estate and Paramount took a nip at making the project happen in the former 2000s . Upon reading the altered book write by Mark Protosevich ( The Cell , I Am Legend ) , Robert Rodriguez concord to direct the movie and planned to shoot it using the same " digital phase " film technique he ’d engage to create ahighly - stylized noir universe for hisSin Citycomic book movie adaption . This would ’ve , in possibility , permit Paramount to keep the yield cost down far better than both Disney ’s ' 80s version and Stanton ’s moving picture later did . Rodriguez even hired the Godfather of Fantasy Art , Frank Franzetta ( who was already get laid for instance Burroughs ' work ) , to assist design the pic ’s visuals .
Once again , though , the production hit a snag . Due to his dissonance with the Directors Guild of America over his determination to creditSin Citycreator Frank Miller as a conscientious objector - director on his movie adaptation , Rodriguez resigned from the organization and Paramount call on to a DGA - backed music director , Kerry Conran , to fill his spot in 2004 . Conran later leave the task ( for undisclosed reason ) after reach his feature debut directingSky Captain and the World of Tomorrow- a film that , much like Rodriguez ’s visual sense forJohn Carter , used CGI background and draw from the tropes and aesthetic of early 20th century sci - fi and pulp magazine fabrication .
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Jon Favreau’s Adaptation
Rather than giving up on itsJohn Carteradaptation after Conran step down , Paramount turn to Jon Favreau to direct the film in October 2005 , with Mark Fergus handling the script . Their adaptation of the movie would ’ve adapted the first three Barsoom novel ( The Gods of MarsandThe Warlord of Mars , in accession toA Princess of Mars ) and used a combination of practical effects and CGI to make its extraterrestrial characters . Less than twelve months by and by , Paramount decide the risks outweighed the likely benefits and turned its attending to revive theStar Trekmovies instead . That proved to be a smart move : J.J. Abrams ' 2009Star Trekreboot was a big hitat the box office , and help to usher in a brand - fresh era for the franchise on the big and diminished silver screen alike .
This also freed up Favreau and Fergus to transfer megahit history by make the originalIron Manin 2008 . It ’s impossible to say whether their take onJohn Carterwould’ve fare any better at the box office than Disney ’s picture - and it they ’d worked on it instead ofIron Man , who knows how that would ’ve impacted the MCU - but it ’s sure as shooting something to think on . And given Favreau ’s now - bang fascination with telling level that blend elements of science - fiction with fantasy and westerns ( as he did with hisCowboys & Alienscomic book adaption in 2011 and , most late , The Mandalorianon Disney+ ) , it ’s no surprise to learn he was concerned in bringingJohn Carterto life at one time .
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