John Carter and the Gods of Hollywood

by Sellers, Michael D.

  Yet for all the elements that Lucas borrowed, the overall “feel” of his universe clearly was different than that of Burroughs and also incorporated elements ranging from the samurai movies of Akira Kurosawa to the adolescent science fiction of Robert Heinlein, Isaac Asimov, and the other sci-fi icons of the 1950s.

  He made liberal use of Burroughs.

  But it wasn’t Burroughs.

  Disney and Paramount 1986-2006

  In 1986 Disney Studios, looking for a new franchise that could compete with rival Fox Studios’ Star Wars franchise, optioned the rights to A Princess of Mars through Carolco with producers Andrew Vajna and Mario Kassar, who were coming off two very successful Rambo films. Writer Charles Pogue, who had previously written The Fly was selected by Disney to write the adaptation. At the time, Pogue said of the project:44

  The story has a wonderful ‘fish-out-of-water’ thematic quality, with Carter barging through this archaic society and working his way to the top by breaching every rule in the book.

  “What I would like to do with this novel is to bring, if not the literal adaptation, then at least the spirit and tone of Burroughs, to the screen," he added. “We all know in 1987 that there’s nothing on Mars, and that’s another reason why I think it’s important to keep the hero in the 1800s when people still believed that there was life there…or could be life. This is, essentially, Errol Flynn on Mars. He’s a very human character thrust into a very strange and bizarre world. Basically, it’s what movies should be.”

  Disney found Pogue’s script in need further work, and a year later hired Terry Black to do a rewrite. In an interview in the LA Times in 1988, Black described what he faced, and how he saw the project:45

  "Three-quarters of a century and the book is still popular, which says something. Even at that, the studio wanted to change the whole story around. At one point, they wanted me to throw out the whole book—which I thought was foolish advice. ....The stories are good enough. The only reason [they haven't been made] is because it would be so fantastically expensive to animate all the creatures and do the special effects. .....Actually, they (Disney) want this to be the next Star Wars.”

  Next, still not ready to pull the trigger, Disney hired Terry Rossio and Ted Elliot to do a rewrite. Rossio and Elliot would go on to fame for, among other films, Pirates of the Caribbean, Shrek, and Aladdin.

  By the time Rosso and Elliot’s script was complete, John McTiernan, who was coming off Predator, Die Hard and The Hunt for Red October, was selected to direct. Another rewrite followed, this one by Bob Gale, whose main credential was Back to the Future. Gale completed his draft in January 1991, after which McTiernan and Disney attached Tom Cruise to play John Carter, and Julia Roberts to play Dejah Thoris.

  But Cruise wasn’t satisfied with the script, so in 1992 another rewrite was ordered, with McTiernan being given the writer he wanted, Sam Resnick. who was coming off the Patrick Bergin Robin Hood TV Movie that had been produced by McTiernan.

  Resnick’s script turned out to be acceptable to all parties, so at this point Disney ordered the Resnick script to be budgeted, and the result that came back -- $120M by several accounts -- meant that the film would be the most expensive film ever to that point. A key issue affecting the budget--other than the casting of A list talent like Cruise and Roberts -- was how to accomplish the look of the film, and in particular the creatures that would be needed. Disney had proposed using disguised elephants, camels, and other animals to achieve the Barsoomian creatures, but McTiernan had become convinced that Computer Generated Imagery (CGI) was the better, albeit more expensive, alternative. A bottleneck developed, and was exacerbated by the fact that Carolco, the production company of producers Vajna and Kassar, had fallen on hard times after years of success, further complicating the financing plan for the film.

  Finally, in 1993, McTiernan -- who was the beneficiary of a “pay or play” deal that meant he got paid whether the film was made or not -- left the project. Disney brought in George R.R. Martin and Melinda Snodgrass to do another revision. Martin would later write Game of Thrones; while Snodgrass was the successful writer for Star Trek: The Next Generation. Nothing came of this final attempt -- and in 2000 Disney allowed the rights to revert back to Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc.

  In all, Disney had spent 14 years developing the film; 7 writers had produced 5 distinct drafts; but yet again, John Carter of Mars had failed to make it to the screen.

  In late 2001, Producer James Jacks, coming off The Mummy and The Mummy Returns, read the autobiography of uber-geek blogger Harry Knowles in which Knowles included John Carter of Mars as one of the most significant sci-fi properties never to be made into a movie. Jacks bought in to Knowles’ vision and convinced Paramount to go for the project, which they secured in 2002 after a bidding war with Columbia Pictures. Paramount’s deal with Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc included a $300,000 upfront payment against $2,000,000 if the film were to go into production.

  Jacks brought the Austin, Texas based Knowles on board to the project as an advisor, and eventually an executive producer, and hired Mark Protosovich (The Cell) to write the screenplay, and Robert Rodriguez (also based in Austin) signed on to direct after fellow Austinite Knowles showed him the script.

  Unlike the tortured Disney production, Paramount moved quickly and by 2005 had a full production plan in place that centered on Rodriguez using his all-digital stages in Austin which had been built originally for Sin City. Rodriguez announced that he was planning to hire Frank Frazetta, who had created dozens of iconic Burroughs and Barsoom illustrations in the 1970s, as the designer. However, just as the film looked like it was about to go forward, Rodriguez become embroiled in a dispute with the Directors Guild over his decision to award co-director status to Frank Miller for Sin City. Miller was not a member of the Director’s Guild, who in any event does not allow co-director credits, and the subsequent conflict led to Rodriguez resigning from the director’s guild. This in turn meant that Paramount, who was a signatory to the DGA Agreement and thus had to use DGA talent, had to find another director for the project.

  Paramount Chose Kerry Conran (Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow) and hired Ehren Kruger to rewrite the script. Conran’s tenure is notable for a thirteen minute “pitch video” he created for Paramount, bootleg copies of which have remained in circulation on the internet and which include compelling art images, plus live action depiction of John Carter in a swordfight with a motion capture Thark. Conran wanted to shoot the film in the Australian outback, and scouted for locations there -- but in late 2005 Conran opted out of the film and was replaced by Jon Favreau.

  Favreau brought in Mark Fergus to rewrite the Kruger screenplay. A key change that Favreau implemented was to abandon the present day setting that Kruger and Conran had come up with, and revert to the a Civil War era. Favreau also re-conceptualized the film around the use of practical locations and effects rather than the extensive CGI envisioned by Conran, citing Planet of the Apes as his inspiration. He envisioned the Tharks being created via a combination of prosthetic makeup and CGI. A budget was created, and again, as had previously happened, the budget was so high as to give the studio pause.

  Finally, in 2006, Paramount, as Disney had before them, threw in the towel and allowed their option to lapse, with the rights reverting yet again to Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc. Once again, the on again, off again march of John Carter of Mars to cinema fruition went on hold.

  As soon as Paramount released the rights, the Hollywood Reporter, Variety, and the other trade publications reported the reversion of rights back to its owners.

  One of those who read the articles was an animation director, Andrew Stanton, then in the midst of directing Wall-E for Pixar. Stanton had been following the development of John Carter of Mars for years. He had been a fan of the comic books, and the novels, during his childhood, and the news that the rights to the Burroughs property were available triggered the beginning of a chain of events that would lead, finally, to Burroughs hu
ndred year old property making it to cinema screens worldwide.

  Cook and Stanton

  Andrew Stanton’s entry point into the world of Edgar Rice Burroughs and Barsoom was through the brief run of John Carter Marvel Comic Books that appeared in the 1970s, when Stanton was in elementary and junior high school. He describes his first experience with the stories:46

  It was the comic book form—short run of it in the 70s—and like most of the set, my best friend was a latch-key kid and had all these older brothers and it was nothing but a comic heaven in their attic. I remember being introduced to this. They all used to draw, and they would draw these Tharks all the time. From there, turned out to find out about the books that they were from, and I started to read them. I decided to read them from cover to cover from my junior high school years bleeding into my high school years. My friends that were girls used to tease me and call them my romance novels.

  Stanton feasted on the comics and drew his own Tharks and Barsoomian fliers, absorbing the story and lore of Barsoom first in comic form -- then in novels, a fact that would play a key role in his interpretation of the two central characters, John Carter and Martian Princess Dejah Thoris.

  In both the comics and the books, John Carter was a master warrior, “the greatest swordsman on two worlds” but in the comics he was a trash-talking modern superhero with lines like: “I’m coming for you Kan, to wring your filthy neck until you spit out what I must know. Speak, scum! Where are you hiding Dejah Thoris!”47

  As Stanton would later say, quoting Steve Jobs, “You only get one first impression.” And Stanton’s first impression of John Carter, Dejah Thoris, and Barsoom came from the Marvel comics, not the books. He did graduate to the books, but in the end, it was the Marvel depiction of the world of Barsoom, and the situation of a human dropped in among the warring factions and tribes there, that captured his imagination more than the characters of the two central figures or other elements that were derived exclusively from the Burroughs novels.

  Thirty-five years later, in 2005, during the awards run for his first feature, Finding Nemo, Stanton was at the Vanity Fair Oscars after-party where he ran into fellow director Robert Rodriguez, who was then in advanced development for Paramount’s version of John Carter. Stanton was seething with friendly jealousy, so he sidled up to Rodriguez, and in what he would later describe as a ‘loving’ way, looked Rodriguez in the eyes:48

  “Don’t f--k it up.”

  Rodriguez gave him a stare.

  “John Carter. Don’t screw it up. I just really, really want to see it done right!”

  “Oh, no, no, no.”

  “Here’s how I would open it. You can have it!”

  “Lay it on me,” Rodriguez replied.

  Whereupon Stanton explained to Rodriguez his ideas about how to open the story. Shortly after his conversation with Rodriguez, the Sin City director was out due to his dispute with the DGA, and Kerry Conran took over the ultimately ill-fated Paramount project.

  A month later, at Pixar, Stanton was having a story meeting with Mark Andrews, head of story on Incredibles and Ratatouille.49 Andrews was describing a shortlist of projects for the future that he had in mind for development at Pixar, and Stanton responded to one with: “That’s like John Carter of Mars.” The comment stopped Andrews dead in his tracks; then the two discovered that they shared a childhood fascination for the Burroughs series, even going so far as to sketch Barsoomian characters. The two ended up doing a mock ‘pinkie-swear’ that if either ever ended up working on a John Carter of Mars project, they would work together.

  A year later, Stanton was deep into the production of Wall-E when he read in August 2006 that Paramount had relinquished the rights to A Princess of Mars. His first reaction, as a fan, was disappointment -- but disappointment quickly turned int a fixation. He had been following the ragged path of Burroughs’ Mars series to the screen since 1986, and had witnessed all the disappointments -- Mctiernan, then a series of misfires under Paramount -- Rodriguez first, then Kerry Conran, then Jon Favreau.

  Now it was available.

  An idea began to form.

  A week later Disney studio chief Dick Cook gave Stanton a “check-in” call, just to see how the director was progressing with Wall-E.50 After giving Cook an update on the status of Wall-E, which was still two years out from its release date, Stanton brought up the suddenly available Burroughs property: “Maybe when I finish Wall-E, if I’m not a one-hit-wonder, would you consider letting me make it? It’s just a crime that it’s not going to get out there. Regardless of whether I’m the one to make it, you should get the rights.”

  Cook said he would look into it. A 2003 Business Week article famously described him as the “nicest guy in Disney’s jungle” and indeed, by the time Stanton approached him in 2006 he was probably the best liked senior executive in Hollywood, with extraordinary relationships and a history that included conceptualizing Pirates of the Caribbean with Johnny Depp in a one-on-one meeting.51

  At the time Stanton came forward with the proposition to direct A Princess of Mars, the status of Pixar within Disney was such that Cook had to take the request seriously. Stanton was the number two at Pixar, second only to Lasseter, and his first directorial effort, Finding Nemo, had become the highest grossing animated film ever, bringing in $867M globally. He was a creative force to be reckoned with.

  Cook, the veteran of 36 years of Disney corporate politics, knew instantly that this could not be treated as any other director pitching a project; it had strategic implications for Disney Studios and Disney Corp overall.

  A month later Disney acquired the rights to the first three books in the 11 book series, and shortly thereafter Cook and Disney signed Stanton to direct.

  Today, with the benefit of hindsight, many commentators have questioned the viability of the material, which would prove expensive to produce, did not have a large current fan base, and had been strip-mined for the better part of a century via everything from Superman to Flash Gordon to Star Wars to Avatar. Would the original inspiration for all these classics — coming out after the clones had already had their run in the public consciousness, result in the paradox of the original seeming to be derivative of the imitator? If Cook was worried about this, he never went on record as having such concerns.

  After Disney announced that it had acquired the rights and Stanton would direct, one of the first calls Stanton got was from Jon Favreau, who had been set to direct the Paramount version when the studio decided to pull back. “I’m so bummed to have lost the property, but if it had to go to anybody I’m so glad it went to you.”52 Stanton was touched, and at the same time felt, for one of the first times, the pressure that would come with this project that had been 100 years in development. “Well, then I’ll try to do good by you.”

  Favreau had a request: “I want to be a Thark.”

  Stanton laughed, and agreed, and eventually made good on the promise with Favreau playing a brief but memorable role as the “Thark Bookie” taking bets on whether Helium or Zodanga would win the air battle that introduces Dejah Thoris to Carter in the story.

  Adapting a Classic

  As he set out to adapt Burroughs’ novel, Stanton was given all the various screenplays created under the previous Disney development effort. Cook had obtained rights to the first three novels -- and all options were open: Stanton could largely stick to the same structure that Burroughs had created, making the first movie conform substantially to A Princess of Mars -- or he could take another approach. Cook left it up to Stanton to work out the details.

  The story that came first for Stanton. “I actually am superstitious about getting too much, if any visual stuff for awhile until I have an outline that works, because you can get really seduced by visuals and they can sometimes hide that you actually need to change the story or that your story’s not good enough. It’s like I should be able to pitch you the story without any visuals and it should hold your attention. And so I do that almost to myself .....I won�
�t reward myself with creating visuals until I’ve got at least an initial outline.....once it works, I will pull the trigger immediately on development artists, and I will have a long list of stuff I want them to create.”53

  To get started, Stanton pulled in Mark Andrews, making good on the “pinkie swear” from 2005. Pulling in a collaborator was partly a necessity due the ongoing work with Wall-E that still constituted a more than full-time job, but it also reflected Stanton’s need for collaboration. He didn’t like to write alone, and in fact he’d had a harrowing experience with Finding Nemo that made collaboration an even greater necessity.

  Before his first directorial effort with Finding Nemo, Stanton thought of the original Pixar Brain Trust, consisting of Lasseter, Stanton, Pete Docter, and Joe Ranft, as working together in a synergistic way that he likened to the Beatles: The collective output was far better than the work any one of them could do solo. And because, like the Beatles, the work came out under the “team” brand -- in this case “Pixar” -- it kept egos in check. “Our movies get famous, not the moviemakers.”54

  But Stanton had a hankering to find out what he could do on his own, and Finding Nemo, while not exactly that -- it was still a Pixar film -- was his first chance to direct. He easily got the project green-lit -- but in the execution, there were problems. The film wasn’t working, and Stanton knew it. “I just felt -- I suck. Really suck, and they’re going to replace me. It’s coming.”55 Stanton’s anxieties were driving him batty, yet he remained fiercely independent, even though he felt the pressure that this was the film -- his film -- that was going to do what no other Pixar film had done, and that was to fail.