I visited Mars almost two years ago. It was April 2010 and the film set was in the middle of nowhere. Finding Nemo/WALL-E director Andrew Stanton was making his live-action debut John Carter, a big screen adaptation of Edgar Rice Burroughs‘s novel A Princess of Mars. There had been many failed attempts to bring the material to the big screen, but somehow Stanton was able to convince the studio heads to let him be the one to make the adaptation at a cost of hundreds of millions of dollars.
Disney flew a group of journalists into the Las Vegas airport, where we boarded a shuttle bus to a location five hours away. A location so far away that we were no longer in Nevada. Located at the center of the Grand Circle, Big Water Utah has a population of only 417 people (which probably explains why you didn’t see many John Carter set photos). The set was located out in the middle of a desert.
You wouldn’t have any idea a big Hollywood production was being shot in town, aside from small yellow signs that read “BARSOOM” which help crew members find the small dirt road which leads to the set. And by set, I mean a few structures which have been constructed on the grey dirt in the middle of these large brown hills made of sandstone. Barsoom, of course, is what the Martians in the books call their home planet.
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Posted on Wednesday, February 8th, 2012 by Angie Han
I haven’t been quiet about my ambivalence toward John Carter, Andrew Stanton‘s live-action directing debut, but I think I’ve finally figured out what my problem with the film is: the dialogue. Or at least, that’s what I’ve come to suspect after watching this new 60-second TV spot. The new video downplays the talking bits and highlights the action, and perhaps as a result, it may be my favorite teaser / trailer / commercial for John Carter yet. Watch it after the jump.
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Posted on Tuesday, February 7th, 2012 by Angie Han
One film I’ve been decidedly mixed on is John Carter, Andrew Stanton‘s live-action debut. Much as I love the talent involved — stars Taylor Kitsch, Willem Dafoe, Mark Strong, etc., screenwriter Michael Chabon, and of course Stanton — I haven’t loved the footage we’ve seen of it so far. But trailers, clips, and Super Bowl spots only tell us so much, and some of the buzz from the early screenings have made the project sound a bit more promising. Hit the jump for more.
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Disney aired a new commercial for Andrew Stanton‘s live action debut John Carter during the big game. After the jump you can watch the super bowl spot, and a 60 second extended spot.
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Battleship is the film in which director Peter Berg worked in full-on Michael Bay mode, with Taylor Kitsch, Rihanna and Alexander Skarsgard as crew members on a US Navy ship stuck inside a force field erected by some force that has its eye on Earthly resources. We’ve seen a couple trailers for the film that introduced the film’s basic scenario, and showed some of the tech of the attacking force. (We’ve been calling them aliens, but we don’t actually know what the enemies in the movie really are.)
A new one-minute Battleship spot ran tonight during the Super Bowl, and while it recycles a lot of the footage from the first couple trailers, it does offer some new images of the enemy footsoldiers, including what seems to be a showdown between one of the Hal0-like characters and a cannon that should blow it to pieces. Why do I suspect that’s not how this encounter ends?
Check out the spot below. Read More »
Posted on Tuesday, January 31st, 2012 by Angie Han
Good news for those eager to find out exactly why Benicio del Toro is picking on Blake Lively in that first image from Savages: Universal has just shifted the opening date for Oliver Stone‘s latest from September 28 to July 6. Savages is the only film currently scheduled to go up against Marc Webb’s The Amazing Spider-Man, which hits three days before on Tuesday, July 3. It’s a bold move on the studio’s part, but it may also be a smart one — Savages could be ideal counter-programming to the comedies, actioners, and superhero flicks due out around the same time this summer.
Based on a book by Don Winslow, Savages stars Taylor Kitsch and Aaron Johnson as a pair of small-time pot dealers who get roped into working for a Mexican cartel that kidnaps their shared girlfriend (Lively). The impressive cast also includes Uma Thurman, Salma Hayek, John Travolta, Demián Bichir, and Emile Hirsch.
After the jump, new release dates for Clint Eastwood’s Trouble With the Curve, Drafthouse Films’ The FP, and lesser known Oscar nominees Bullhead (also from Drafthouse Films) and Chico & Rita.
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If you’re on the fence about Universal’s Battleship, that being Peter Berg‘s Michael Bay-style ‘humans versus aliens’ movie which will hit next year, this Japanese trailer probably won’t help make up your mind. It has a few small new bits of footage, yes, and also a bit more footage of Japanese actor Tadanobu Asano. But otherwise it’s still the same big, goofy battle movie. Check it out below. Read More »
I think we can all agree that, whether or not you belive Andrew Stanton‘s 3D mega-budget fantasy John Carter is going to deliver, the second trailer was a vast improvement over the teaser. Finally we got a glimpse at the massive scope we can expect from the Oscar-winning director on March 9.
Piggybacking off that, and a few new posters, two new TV spots have come on line that include some new battle/actions scenes. And, dare I say, they improve on what we saw in the last trailer. Check them out below. Read More »
