Those who saw the movie and came away impressed with it pondered for a long time why it was such a commercial failure. The dream was put to rest, and with it went any hope of launching an innovative new science fiction series. Knowles, Daniel and Jacks have now left the project, as has Favreau, who is mired in bringing the long-gestating Marvel Comics character "Iron Man" to the big screen for New Line Cinema.Ĭalls to Disney Studios went unreturned at press time, whatever that means around here.If the studio hadn’t compared the film’s worldwide earnings of $284 million to the reported $300 million production costs, they wouldn’t have considered the movie a financial success even if it did well internationally. More, as the New York Times points out in this weekend's Arts & Leisure section, there's no pesky author to impede its progress, as was the case with Ayn Rand's forever-postponed "Atlas Shrugged." "John Carter" is certainly in keeping with Buena Vista Motion Pictures Group chairman Dick Cook's mandate to make more family friendly epics that can do huge business worldwide. While Rice Burroughs is best known for creating " Tarzan," "John Carter" is, in my opinion, definitely the cooler character: He's a wealthy gentleman gold mine owner who cannot truly "die," but is constantly ferrying, via astral projection between states of existence on Earth and Mars - reembodied in his handsome, strapping human form each time. The estate briefly negotiated with Fox and Walden Media to make the movie there, but that deal fell through, insiders tell TMZ. Even Harry Knowles, the founder of Ain't It Cool News, came aboard to produce the venerable sci-fi series. Two years ago, Paramount hired Jon Favreau to direct it, and "The Mummy" producers Sean Daniel and Jim Jacks, to produce it. An attempt was made in 1970 to turn the massive, sprawling sci-fi epic into a film, and again in 2005. It won't be the first time Hollywood tries to do so. Our spies tell us that the estate of Edgar Rice Burroughs is in negotiations with Walt Disney Pictures to turn the eleven volume "John Carter of Mars" series of books into a motion picture franchise - some ninety years after it first became a best-seller. "John Carter of Mars," meet Dick Cook of Burbank.
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