Design an ERB Barsoom / John Carter movie

Cafe Society
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The Captain John Carter of Virginia character is one the funnest protagonists ever in a series that is just filled with action.

Edgar Rice Burroughs Barsoom books were some of the first sci-fi/fantasy books I read as a lad, and I have added to my Dad’s collection as I find them. I have one first edition book but it’s in terrible shape. (hijacking my own OP, whoodathunk?)

Any ways…

Suppose you could back the making of a movie or TV series based on this wonderful world.

1st - TV or theatrical release? Stand alone or series?

2nd - An adaptation of one of the books or a new story in the spirit of ERB?

3rd - Who would you cast? (I’m sticking with live action + CGI, not an animated work)

4th - Would you leave in the bad science and casual racist undertones? (The evil guys had slanty eyes, the big, powerful, dumb workers were black, etc…)

5th - if a new story, which of today’s writers would be up to the task?

6th - Would you use CGI for some of the major alien characters, or cast actors and use makeup?

7th - Director?

8th - Would you be planning on marketing it to the older or the new sci-fi/fantasy buffs? (Would affect alot of the above questions, me thinks)

I’ll post some of my ideas a little later. Let’s hear your fabulous ideas first.

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  1. Theatrical
  2. Use the characters, races, etc, but not necessarily the novel plots.
  3. Dunno.
  4. I thought the First Born were black. Sounds good to me, since we’re all “out of Africa.”
  5. Dunno that, either
  6. Yes, when necessary.
  7. Dunno.
  8. Older.

And one more thought: ERB quite possibly modeled his John Carter series after Edwin Lester Arnold’s “Lt Gulliver Jones” and “Phra the Phoenician.” I won’t bore you with the details, but Marvel Comics did a greatly embellished “Gulliver Jones” in a series of “Creatures on the Loose” issues three decades ago. The comic serialization was far superior to Arnold’s novel, in which surprisingly little happens. That story is the one I would actually love to see filmed.

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I want Frank Frazetta hired to design the Barsoomian races & creature foe CGI.

He did the illos for many different Barsoom novels, & his “The Princess” is how I always imagined Dejah Thoris to look.

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gak

I must have mixed up the ebony skinned Black Pirates (the First Born) with some other story on my mind (Pakleds?)… Sorry.
I would take the opening of the Barsoom story and maybe mix in the characters added in the later books. Make it a stand alone theatrical movie. Any further interest could be taken care of by later movies in the spirit of ERB’s Barsoom.

I would think that the principal aliens, like Tars Tarkas, would have to be real people. Advances in make up coupled with the amazing power of CGI would make them believable as real characters.

Who to cast?

Wow. How do I cast one of the most noble, swashbuckling, sexist, and improbable heros of all time? A man with amazing strength of character who also seems to be deeply flawed and quite jaded by his experiences in the wars of man.

Can’t be too young. But not oldish, either. Mature, yet a very physical fighter. I would like him written with a lot more emotion than ERB gave him, tho…

To be honest, I’m leaning towards a Johnny Depp type of actor.

Or, how about John Cusak as an action hero? Nah.

Who was it in The Rocketeer?

Yeah, Hugh Jackman would be a great choice.
Now, Dejah Thoris…

Liz Hurly? Alyssa Milano? Marrisa Tomei? (Obviously leaning towards dark haired beauties.) Make up could take care of some of the descriptions in the books. But, I’m just having a hard time fitting a real woman into the picture my mind holds of Dejah.
Tar Tarkas: Carl Weathers? Michael Dorn? Brian Dennehy? Even Arnold…

Some of the other characters would need to be clevely cast. I could see Alan Rickman in there as a First Born. With enough make up, of course.

Be back with more.

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  1. Theatrical

  2. Book adaptation, start with “A Princess of Mars”

  3. Michael Dorn would have to be a First Born! Preferably Xodar, one of the good guys, since I had the hots for Dorn as Worf. Micheal Clarke Duncan would make a great badFirst Born!
    Dejah Thoris would have to be a lesser known actress. I like the idea of casting a Native American actress. Or maybe someone with a percentage of Asian ancestry. Maybe Kelly Hu?
    Tom Cruise as John Carter? Yuck! Carter is supposed to be tall. This is one I’ll have to work on, and come back about.

    1. Yes, I would leave in the “science”. I’d be going for adapting the screenplay as closely as possible to the book. And I don’t think the books were really racist. There were good and bad people in all the races. And some of the worst people were the whites, the Holy Therns.

  4. I wouldn’t be going for a new story at all, so I can’t really answer this one.

6)Actors and makeup

  1. Anybody but George Lucas. I know that Peter Jackson did as faithful an adaptation to TLOTR as could be expected, maybe he would like to do it. The first three books could be done the same way as the Tolkien was, filmed together and released seperately.

  2. I’d try to market to old and new, with an emphasis on old.

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I dunno about Frank Frazetta. He’s brilliant, of course, but I think Joe Jusko’s artwork really catches the flavor of the novels, and would serve as great production art.

The director would be a question, though. Who could do this in such a way that it didn’t become corny?

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Wang-Ka, can you point us to a good site for this Jusko guy? He sounds interesting.

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I just want the Martian women to be as skimpily clad as the film censors will allow!

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For Dejah–there’s a pin-up model named Dita Von Teese… :wink: :smiley: :cool:

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Adapt APOM, and follow as closely as possible. Jackman as Carter, ?? as Dejah, and Michael Clarke Duncan as the voice/model for Tars Tarks.

Sir Rhosis

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**

Needs to be a big budget movie to work in all the wonder of the stories. first one can stand alone, and 2 &3 must go together (like the books.) after those three it can stray from the source material.

faithful adaption of the books, one per movie. after three they will be allowed to stray.

tough one. JC must be older than most of the heartthrobs running around(mid to late thirties). Would also consider not mentioning too hard the confederate aspect. (if at all) An unknown or little known actor would be best (and save money), though Viggo Moreteson might pull it off if he can get the accent right.

Dejah Thoris should be Kelly Hu or another Asian girl. (not Lucy Liu)

Tars Tarkas should be CGI, voice by someone black, probably Keith David

Xodar (First Born guy) wesley snipes

Sola – voice by a singer or someone with a soft voice that conveys kindness.

Sarkoja – voice by angela lansbury

Kantos Kan – arab guy from the Mummy

Evil Green Marian chief – voice by R. Lee Emry

I would keep the different colored martians, but have them be made up of actors that are diverse. i.e. the Red martians would be from all races, just with red make up. The black martians would also be all races with black make up on, etc. I would also keep the 19th century aspect.

None, they all suck.

CGI because i think it is the only way they will get the green martians right. Woola probably CGI also. The Tharks can be just elephants under a costume or something with CGI more legs.

Jackson, or someone who won’t rape the source material for a quick explosion

market it to the young, the old buffs will just hear the name and be excited (as long as it stays faithful)

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Too bad Harrison Ford is too old for Carter’s role.

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Nah, nah, nah! What’s with all this,Tars? I thought you and I were gonna’ play ourselves! Dejah would play herself too, except now she says she’s havin’ too much fun playin’ with grandchildren to be bothered. She wants Kelly Hu, dusted lightly with rouge, to play her part.

And if they mess with the original too much, it’ll never play on Mars!

“Too bad Harrison Ford is too old for Carter’s role.”
Maybe the makeup guys can do something about that? He’s really the only one that comes to mind. Or maybe Pierce Bronson?

Aside from cracking jokes, I don’t know enough about the movie business to make an intelligent comment about the other questions asked here. I would think that a top production of Princess could be a major hit.

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Kelly Hu looks good to me :), although I always pictured the Princess of Helium as taller. “Her oval face was beautiful in the extreme, her every feature finely chiseled and exquisite, her eyes large and lustrous and her head surmounted by a mass of coal black, waving hair, caught loosely into a strange yet becoming coiffure.”

As to the proper appearance of age for the finest swordsman in two worlds: “I have always been a man, a man of about thirty. I appear today as I did forty years and more ago…”

Mr. Burroughs (could he have been a Hobbit?) describes “Uncle Jack”: “He was a spelndid specimen of manhood, standing a good two inches over six feet, broad of shoulder and narrow of hip, with the carriage of the trained fighting man. His features were regular and clear cut, his hair black and closely cropped, while his eyes were of a steel gray, reflecting a strong and loyal character, filled with fire and initiative.”

Those are some hard sandals to fill! Jean Claude would fit the physical bill, but I have doubts about his ability to carry off that gentlemanly southern accent. :slight_smile: Pierce Brosnan (note spelling) is too sophisticated-looking, he’s too “cool.” John Carter is a simple fighting man, none of that “girls swoon over him” sort of thing!

For Tars Tarkas, I’d vote for CGI with James Earl Jones doing the voice (if that isn’t too Star Wars-ish).

A brilliant suggestion!