Ten-Minute Clip From 'John Carter' Shows The Hero's Early Adventure On Earth

Disney's John Carter opens this coming Friday, and in order to further the efforts in letting audiences get a handle on the story in Andrew Stanton's massive adaptation of Edgar Rice Burroughs' early novel, the studio has released a ten-minute clip that helps set up the movie.

What you'll see below is the film's version of Burroughs arriving at a palatial estate, where he reads a book in which John Carter (Taylor Kitsch) narrates his experience. We see Carter in Arizona and the events that lead to his transport to Mars, where the Civil War vet is caught up in a new civil war.

The clip features a blend of action, comedy and early character setup, and suggests that the film has a lot of promise. I haven't had a chance to see the final cut of John Carter at this point, so I can't comment too much on how things pay off as the film moves forward, but this clip made me want to see where things go next. It also makes me want to see Stanton shoot a straight western.

John Carter stars Taylor Kitsch, Lynn Collins, Samantha Morton, Mark Strong, Ciaran Hinds, Dominic West, James Purefoy, Daryl Sabara, Polly Walker, Bryan Cranston, Thomas Hayden Church, and Willem Dafoe. It is directed by Andrew Stanton (Finding Nemo, Wall-E) and opens on March 9th.

From Academy Award(R)-winning filmmaker Andrew Stanton comes "John Carter"–a sweeping action-adventure set on the mysterious and exotic planet of Barsoom (Mars). "John Carter" is based on a classic novel by Edgar Rice Burroughs, whose highly imaginative adventures served as inspiration for many filmmakers, both past and present. The film tells the story of war-weary, former military captain John Carter (Taylor Kitsch), who is inexplicably transported to Mars where he becomes reluctantly embroiled in a conflict of epic proportions amongst the inhabitants of the planet, including Tars Tarkas (Willem Dafoe) and the captivating Princess Dejah Thoris (Lynn Collins). In a world on the brink of collapse, Carter rediscovers his humanity when he realizes that the survival of Barsoom and its people rests in his hands.