Pixar Developing “John Carter of Mars” Trilogy

Production on Pixar’s “John Carter of Mars” project is fast moving forward with the studio recently revealing their plans to develop the Edgar Rice Burroughs sci-fi novels into a trilogy of films.

The Pixar creative team recently visited the Edgar Rice Burroughs archives while doing research for the project - both the director Andrew Stanton and writer Mark Andrews were in attendance - and they confirmed to ERBzine that a trilogy was in the works.

“All six members at the meeting expressed a deep commitment to the project, acknowledging that they had been inspired by Burroughs’ creations from a very early age. This is evidenced in the excitement held for the John Carter property and the plans for a film trilogy faithful to the Burroughs books.”

The first novel in the series, “A Princess of Mars”, was published in 1917. The story follows John Carter, a civil war vet, who is mysteriously transported to Mars where he finds himself capable demigod-like strength. He soon comes into contact with the planets native inhabitants, a race of giant green barbarians, who are impressed with his strength and combat skills.

The first film in the trilogy is expected to hit theaters before 2012, and will use a combination of live action photography and computer animation.