Walt Disney Pictures showed some new footage in London yesterday for the upcoming science fiction epic
John Carter, directed by
Andrew Stanton (
WALL•E,
Finding Nemo). The star of the film
Taylor Kitsch, visual effects supervisor
Sue Rowe and animation supervisor
Eamon Butler were present during the Q&A where they answered a couple of questions about this big screen adaptation of the popular novel written by
Edgar Rice Burroughs.
First, as far as the preview goes, it seems that everyone really liked it.
7films and
Screen Geek were both there, and this what they said and you can also check out the brief video below with everyone's reaction:
"...the sequences from John Carter were breathtaking – full of passion, humor and incredible action."
- 7FILMS
While they didn't show the whole film there, positive reactions to the preview is a good sign. And not to mention that the test screening went great, so hopefully we will get full reviews soon.
"Another noteworthy clip introduced us to Carter’s sidekick, a dog-cum-lizard character who seems set to be a young fan’s favourite, he is an endearing little character who caught our eye almost immediately."
They are talking about Woola (dog-like beast from the posters) here, and I'm really glad to hear that Stanton managed to make this character work, because Woola will probably be one of the best characters in the film. They also added:
"The remaining clips showed mainly battle sequences, with one in particular really standing out as Carter faces off against a legion of alien barbarians. It was a frenetic, violent sequence, poignantly intercut with tragic scenes from Carter’s earlier life on Earth. Whilst reading this back may sound like a slightly ham-fisted way to establish a character’s motivation, we are happy to report that we got a little tingle up the spine during this section of the presentation."
- SCREEN GEEK
Second, it seems that many are wondering why did they changed the title from
John Carter of Mars to just
John Carter. There really is a simple and yet very good reason for that. In the video below
Kitsch explains it without giving too much away:
Again, removing "of Mars" was a great idea, and as Kitsch says, you will know why they did that when you see the movie.
Next, in the video below,
Kitsch talks about the prepartion for this iconic role and getting as much info as possible on the veterans of American Civil War:
Visual effects supervisor
Sue Rowe talks about doing the research for Mars visuals in this video, and she also reveals the opening shot of the film (which is really cool):
And finally, director
Andrew Stanton revealed via his Twitter account the running time of the movie:
So, that would be 123 minutes. Which is great to hear, because having a John Carter film under two hours is a little short.
And that's it. Stay tuned for more
John Carter news.
Along Taylor Kitsch, Lynn Collins and Willem Dafoe, the rest of the cast includes Mark Strong, Bryan Cranston, James Purefoy, Dominic West, Thomas Haden Church and Ciarán Hinds.
John Carter is set to hit theatres on
March 9!