Favreau talks about his plan for “John Carter of Mars” — smaller, more “A Man Called Horse”
Jon Favreau, who was set to the direct the Paramount edition of John Carter when it folded, opening the way for Disney to acquire the rights for Andrew Stanton, has made some interesting comments about how his John Carter of Mars project would have been oriented.
“I probably wouldn’t have been as ambitious,” Favreau said. “I think both of us really appreciated the source material. Stanton started to weave in elements from the later books. I probably would’ve told a smaller story.”
Evidently the Favreau version would have focused more what is the first act of Stanton’s movie — Carter’s transport to Mars and his developments with the Tharks — proving himself among them and becoming an ally. “As we were developing the script it was much more the experience of John Carter being found in this new world and him coming up in a Man Called Horse kind of way among the Tharks and then opening up the world slowly.”
Interesting comments.
I have mixed feelings bout it. First of all, I’m pretty much on record as saying that I favor the way the book had it, that John Carter had no way home and had no choice–or inclination–other than to make his way among the culture where fate had dropped him, and that was the Tharks for sure. In my recent re-read of the book, I was really stuck by how his progression among the Tharks really does carry the view along — and then the “Fair Captive from the Sky” arrives and Dejah changes the dynamic, but even after she is there, he’s still working to secure a position among the Tharks until escape with Dejah becomes an option.
One thing I really missed in the movie that more time among the Tharks might help (in this imaginary Favreau version, I mean) that I’ve never heard anyone complain about is the ancient dead city — the evidence of advanced human habitation, the art (which Dejah reacts to powerfully in a moment that always helped me be drawn to her character), the sense of mystery and poignancy.
Anyway .. I wonder what kind of John Carter of Mars Favreau would have given us. Food for thought indeed.
The basically bombed out city from the movie didn’t have any of that…..
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All right then. Who’s going to make Favreau’s version for comparison? Henreid’s comment, in reference to Favreau’s version, “Woola was amazing – riding that edge between warm and terrifying” would be interesting to see on-screen.
I completely agree.
Pascalahad wrote:
“The sad thing is, you could almost cut out the Tharks AND the love story, since the movie is not really about that, it’s about a “grand scheme” encompassing the whole planet, and possibly two.”
Then I probably would have had no interest in this movie at all. I’m sorry but to me the appeal of the books-especially A Princess of Mars-is the Tharks and the love story. Stanton was too busy trying like Bob said to make Star Wars that the love story was slight and the Tharks just got the short end of the stick. Honestly I would have preferred more Thark than Thern here. And more of John Carter falling in love and less “sorry lady it’s not my problem, I got a cave of gold back home.”
Imagine if the big climactic white apes fight had been done in an arena that looked like the Roman Circus from Gladiator or Ben Hur, only in abandoned, negelected condition. White marble benches and columns, tattered tapestries, early martian redmen art work and then the nomadic Tharks sitting in these seats for their own version of blood spectacle.
There are touches of grand architecture in the wide shots of the city and landscapes in Stanton’s film but the arena and the actual living conditions of the Tharks shows none of the greatness and glory of Old Barsoom.
I had this line of thought in another thread where I was noticing a similarity in beats of the ending with the first Star Wars. Stanton leaned a little too heavily in thinking if he followed Lucas’ lead in certain things that he was going to have the next Star Wars franchise. All anyone could think of when they saw Stanton’s arena was that it looked exactly like the sandstone arena from Attack of the Clones. This did not serve him well at all.
I agree, there was so much I loved about John’s time with the Tharks. The art and other details of this stay there is something I’d have loved to see! I also missed the nuances of the Martian sensibilities. That Dotar Sojat was names gained by defeating Thark warriors (yes, killing – which is likely why it was changed for the film, and I’m glad Stanton still found a clever way of bringing that name into the story). I still miss Sola’s story as it was in the book. So powerful. And you know, I must agree about time passing. I hadn’t thought of that and that did seem to be missing. You’re on a ride and it’s more like a roller coaster, where the last thing you’re thinking about is the time it’s taking or just the simple passing of time. Anyway, good thoughts, guys. 🙂
What I missed from the movie in general is a sense of time passing, not just among the Tharks, but in general. In the movie it feels like three days. In the meantime, we’re not only talking John Carter rising among the ranks of the Tharks, but also a love story that goes from first meeting to wedding.
The sad thing is, you could almost cut out the Tharks AND the love story, since the movie is not really about that, it’s about a “grand scheme” encompassing the whole planet, and possibly two.
On the other hand, the fact that the movie eventually worked for me, and for others, on these levels is no small feat, when you consider the screen time devoted to these aspects.
I’ve no doubt that Favreau would have made a film more in tune with my tastes about John Carter. In other interviews he cites BEN HUR as a major influence, and a strong desire to stick close to the book because he loved the character building. He was gunning to keep the Tharks 15feet tall, too, and his Woola was amazing – riding that edge between warm and terrifying. I also love the way he was incorporating contemporary knowledge of Mars with Zodanga placed inside of a crater. Similar to Stanton, Zodanga would be an industrial mining city, but instead of marching around on legs, the idea was that Zodanga was mining the precious metal from an ancient asteroid, using the walls of the crater-rim as it’s defensive fortifications. Brilliant.
Ahh, but if Favreau had done John Carter of Mars, we wouldn’t have his brilliant world-building that laid the groundwork for the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe. The Avengers and all the other hero origins that played into it stood on the foundation he built in Iron Man. The fusion of realistic-seeming technology with the fantastic, the character-centric spontaneity and the attention to semi-believable physics, and his skill of staying true to the spirit of his source while updating it for a modern audience are, in-hindsight, extremely well suited for adapting Barsoom. That said, I’m torn about whether I’d trade that for his Marvel work, and I believe Iron Man was still probably a better fit for his talents.
I missed the Korad aspect you mention as well, but the mystery was already blown in the opening scene revealing humans on Barsoom.
In the novel, that scene provided all the Thern foreshadowing for Gods that was necessary I believe. I noticed from the trailers that the statuary throughout the sea-bottom ruins is all Thark in nature, so Stanton made a direct departure in making those ancient cities having been originally built by green men. Making them a once-great civilization that had devolved was an interesting move… but I still prefer the Burroughs history and agree with MCR that the Thark culture really got the short end.
These new remarks further confirm what we’ve heard before, and I remember Harry Knowles declaring that script the best of them he’d been involved with (which was a lot). Have you ever gotten hold of that one, Michael? There is a lot more Favreau art and interview snippets out there, I highly recommend them.
I would have loved to have had more of his time among the Tharks. I think the movie would have fared better if it showed Carter being among them longer.
I’ve often wondered what we have missed over the years – the “could have been” movies. What would animation and films today have been like if Clampett had been able to make his shorts in the 30s? I’ve never read any other alternative scripts other than the synopsis that was posted here – and I can’t tell you how happy I am THAT didn’t get made. Not sure if that was the version Harry Knowles was involved with, but we dodged a bullet on that one at least…
“One thing I really missed in the movie that more time among the Tharks might help (in this imaginary Favreau version, I mean) that I’ve never heard anyone complain about is the ancient dead city — the evidence of advanced human habitation, the art (which Dejah reacts to powerfully in a moment that always helped me be drawn to her character), the sense of mystery and poignancy.”
I guess there was other things to complain about. 😐
I do think possibly having a “smaller” version would have been a more interesting-and possibly more faithful-route to go with. A thing I felt the movie didn’t do well-among the list-is that the Tharks were not that developed. We saw nothing of their customs, the training the young goes through, none of that. Also it would have been helpful in developing the characters, especially Sola and Tars Tarkas, even though more along the lines of ERB, not Stanton’s bad rewriting of their story. And having Dejah spend more time with Carter instead of spending it all trying to save her people and trick Carter to do it would have made the love story more believable. If anything it might have spared us Stanton’s “I’m making a franchise” mentality that ultimately caused most of the problems in this film.
Oh well I guess that will be the version that got away.