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Tuesday, January 17, 2012

John Carter's cancelled trip to Mars

Concept art from Conran's version
Before Andrew Stanton took over in 2010, there is a long list of directors, writers, and filmmakers who, at one time or another, had their hands on the slippery reigns that belonged to Barsoom's cinematic rendering. The list itself is a virtual who's who of Hollywood directors and includes Robert Rodriguez, John Favreau (in the last 10 years) but extends back further to aborted attempts with John McTiernan (Die Hard) casting Tom Cruise as Carter. Ray Harryhausen was at one time attached (would have loved to see that one) and we all know already about the first try, which well may have resulted in the first animated feature being an otherworldly epic including 6-limbed green aliens, rather than a fairy story with 7 dimunutive miners and a narcoleptic brunette. ;)

One such attempt included Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow director Kerry Conran, hired to step in for Rodriguez. Conran was asked to present his vision of John Carter's saga and this video is the result:


The video is rich with beautiful concept images, borrowed orchestral scores, and sword fight test footage with a CG Thark!

Enjoy!

2 comments:

  1. Wow, I really like Conran's vision of the book. While some of it is certainly a bit over the top, you have no doubt whatsoever that Carter is in an alien place. Esp love the massive airship fleets, and the boiling clouds over what I assume is the atmosphere factory.

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