Sunday, December 4, 2011

Kerry Conran's John Carter of Mars


First off, let me just say that I absolutely LOVE Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow.  For me, it's the perfect blend of movie serial, classic adventure film, and retro-tech science fiction.  I love the story.  I love the look.  I love the various action scenes, and the crazy setting.  And after seeing it, I thought to myself, 'this Kerry Conran fella, he's going places.'  Seems I couldn't have been more wrong.  He was briefly attached to one of the many adaptations of Edgar Rice Burroughs' book A Princess of Mars (this time being called Edgar Rice Burroughs' John Carter of Mars).  And then rumored to be involved in a mysterious pulp adventure film (speculation was leaning toward The Shadow, The Phantom, or Doc Savage).  Then nothing.  Silence.  About six years of silence so far. 


What I didn't know was how much had been done for Paramount's John Carter film.  I didn't know that had actually started honest to goodness pre-production.  If you go to this link, look to the right, and select John Carter of Mars, you can see a really sweet demo reel.  I felt at the time that he was the perfect choice to direct, and was disappointed to find he'd left the project.  Here's hoping Conran hasn't made his last film.  Six years is a long time in Hollywood years, but it's not forever.  And I'd still love to see really good versions of any number of pulp properties, from Doc Savage to the Spider. 



-Matt

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