Taylor Kitsch Gambles on Sinking Your 'Battleship'

Canadian actor Taylor Kitsch is quickly becoming a big name in Hollywood. With moviegoers only really knowing him from his portrayal of the mishandled Gambit character in "X-Men Origins: Wolverine," he’s already lined up a leading role in Disney’s "John Carter of Mars" trilogy of big budget epics and now he’s set to star in Peter Berg’s "Battleship."

According to THR’s Heat Vision blog, Kitsch is joining the crew of "Battleship" as a Naval commander, taking over for Jeremy Renner who was in talks for the role but had to drop out due to scheduling conflicts.

THR goes on to describe Kitsch's character as "a Naval commander named Alex Hopper" who is a "great seaman but a lousy politician". Other key roles mentioned for the adaptation of Hasbro's famous game are said to be the female lead as well as a Japanese commander.

From what we know about "Battleship" so far, alien spaceships land in our oceans and stay there because one of them is damaged, setting the scene for some good ol’ naval warfare action. The film will show both our perspective and that of the aliens who are called The Regents and are described as black creatures whose legs spread out like water spiders.

The aliens aren’t here to attack us but are reportedly searching for a power source in the ocean. Of course, that means we fight them.

Kitsch is certainly a rising talent worth keeping an eye on, but we won't get a decent look at his leading potential until 2012 which is when both "Battleship" and "John Carter of Mars" are due to hit theaters.

What do you think of Kitsch as a Naval commander, fighting off the alien invasion?
More news to come! Catch ya' later!
Sources: Screen Rant, Rope of Silicon, First Showing

Willem Dafoe Talks 'John Carter of Mars'

We've known that Willem Dafoe had been cast in Andrew Stanton's "John Carter of Mars" since July, so that's not the news here today, but the actor talked with both AICN and MTV News recently and revealed a lot of interesting details about his character and the project.

The story in "John Carter of Mars" centers on a civil war veteran who finds himself mysteriously transported to Mars, where his involvement with warring races of the dying planet force him to rediscover his humanity.

Dafoe will be playing the role of Tars Tarkas, a big green Martian who eventually befriends John Carter (played by Taylor Kitsch) after an unfriendly beginning to their relationship. Tarkas is a warrior and leader of his people and a very unique one at that because he, against the laws and norms of his society, shows compassion and sympathy, and even had a child secretly with the woman he loved (child bearing is a major criminal offense of hispeople) - he actually believes war isn’t the answer for his kind.

"John Carter of Mars" is currently scheduled to start shooting next January, so Dafoe doesn't know much about it yet, but he is "very excited" and he has "seen renderings" of his character.

"I've seen a lot of the designs and things, and I've just started to do prep work now… But I'm starting doing [CGI] scans and things like that, but it's going to be a real full-on… Well, I'm nine feet tall with four arms, but, just from the scheduling, I'm going to do the stuff.

"Also, they'll use my face, but they'll enhance it in a way–both after and before–in a way that I may not be recognizable. But, I'm good with that. It's particularly cool, because he's a creature, but he's got this huge range of character. And, he does cool things in the movies."

In the interview with AICN, Dafoe was also asked if he had worked out a voice for the martian yet.

"No," Dafoe said, "but there's a whole period where we're going to work with the language and the movement, and find out how I'm going to be nine feet tall, and all that stuff… like, a long period of time where we're going to go to Thark school, you know what I mean? We're going to create our culture. So, it's going to be very cool. These guys know how to do this, and they've got great people. And, the designs and things are just mind-blowing."
Lastly, one area of this project that's been unclear since it was first announced is whether it will be completely CGI or live-action or some hybrid mix of both. Dafoe gave a vague answer to the question.

"Andrew Stanton comes out of Pixar and the amount of research and development that they do on this stuff is incredible. And I'll be involved in part of that," he told MTV News.

Stanton previously said that John Carter will be the "perfect definition of a hybrid movie," integrating live-action and computer-based animation in a way similar to what James Cameron has done with his eagerly anticipated "Avatar." With Disney and Pixar behind the project and the promise of a series of movies on the same scale of "Pirates of the Caribbean," I have high hopes for "John Carter of Mars" and what it will eventually look like on screen.

More news to come! Catch ya' later!
Sources: Screen Rant, First Showing

'John Carter of Mars' Adds Three More to Cast

Heat Vision has announced three more actors will be joining the cast of Andrew Stanton's "John Carter of Mars." First off, they confirm that Thomas Haden Church ("Spider-Man 3"), who already previously revealed that he was in the movie, is officially on-board. He will play Tal Hajus, an ambitious and vicious Thark warrior who is biding his time to be a ruler.

Additionally, it's been announced that British actors James Purefoy ("Rome," "Solomon Kane") and Mark Strong ("Sherlock Holmes") are also joining the project. Purefoy plays Kantos Kan, the captain of the Xavarian, the kingdom of Helium’s grand warship. Strong is Matai Shang, the ruler of the Thems with godlike status.

Stanton ("Finding Nemo," "WALL-E") has rounded up one hell of a cast for this, that's for sure. Leading the way are young actors Taylor Kitsch and Lynn Collins; additionally on-board are Willem Dafoe, Samantha Morton, Dominic West, and Polly Walker.

I'm already very excited for this, just because it's Andrew Stanton, but with this great cast I think I'm now even more excited than I was before. Sure, it will take me lots of time to remember the names for the characters in this film, but I'm excited nonetheless.

More news to come! Catch ya' later!
Source: First Showing

Lynn Collins Prepares for Playing an Alien Princess in 'John Carter of Mars'

Lynn Collins, who played Kayla Silverfox in "Wolverine," says preparations are under way on the Disney adaptation of Edgar Rice Burroughs' "John Carter of Mars" books.

She will play Martian princess Dejah Thoris in the tale of a Civil War veteran mysteriously transported to the Red Planet where he finds warring races vying for control. The title role in the film is played by Taylor Kitsch, who was also in "Wolverine," portraying the Cajun mutant Gambit.

Collins told MTV News last week on the New York red carpet for "The Burning Plain" that she's already seen workups of fight sequences she'll have to film and concept art for her appearance.

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The movie will be directed by Andrew Stanton, whose impressive credits in animation include writing both "Toy Story" movies; writing and executive-producing "Monsters Inc;" executive-producing "Ratatouille" and "Up;" and writing and directing the Oscar-winning hits "Finding Nemo" and "WALL-E." This would be his first live-action film project.

Plus points for this project are that it is from classic, highly-regarded source material and, better still, it has not been seen before on the big screen. For once, this is an original film project, not a prequel, sequel, remake or reimagining. Though I expect if this becomes successful we will get those in the future.

Production is due to start in November with the film set for release in 2012.
More news to come! Catch ya' later!
Sources: MTV News, The Geek Files (1,2)

'John Carter of Mars' Casting Updates

The cast of Disney’s big-screen adaptation of Edgar Rice Burroughs’ "John Carter of Mars" keeps growing, adding three English actors to the roster. Joining John Carter of Mars will be Dominic West ("The Wire," "300"), Samantha Morton ("In America") and Polly Walker (HBO’s "Rome").

The three English actors join Willem DaFoe, Thomas Hayden Church and "Wolverine" stars Taylor Kitsch and Lynn Collins (Gambit and Silver Fox), who will be playing lead characters John Carter and his love interest, Mars princess Dejah Thoris.

According to The Hollywood Reporter: “Morton will play Sola, the daughter of Tars Tarkas (DaFoe), who must hide her softer side from her warmongering race. West plays Sab Than, prince of the Zodangans who believes he is entitled to rule Mars. Walker plays Sarkoja, a merciless, tyrannical Thark.”

Writer/Producer/Director Andrew Stanton ("Finding Nemo," "Wall-E") will be making his live-action directorial debut; the script was co-written by Stanton and Mark Andrews, with novelist Michael Chabon ("Wonder Boys") turning in a recent rewrite. "John Carter of Mars" is expected to mix live-action and CGI Martian creatures, and will be a PG-13 epic adventure/fantasy, which is expected to kick-off a trilogy.

The film is reportedly set to start filming this November for release in 2012.
More news to come! Catch ya' later!
Source: Screen Rant

Willem Dafoe Joins 'John Carter of Mars'

Willem Dafoe has joined the cast of John Carter of Mars, Disney's adaptation of the classic Edgar Rice Burroughs book series.

"John Carter of Mars" tells the story of a Civil War soldier mysteriously transported to the red planet where warring races vie for control.

Dafoe will play Tars Tarkas, a leader of the Thark race who knows the only way his people can survive is if they turn away from war.

Variety describes his character as a "fierce green Martian warrior," so does that mean we'll see an entirely green Dafoe? Guess he won't be wearing that green goblin outfit again.
Taylor Kitsch will play John Carter and Lynn Collins will play Dejah Thoris, the heir to the throne of Mars' Helium kingdom whom he falls in love with.

Director Andrew Stanton wrote the screenplay with Mark Andrews, with author Michael Chabon hired in April to rework it.

Jim Morris and Colin Wilson are producing "John Carter," which will start shooting in early 2010 and be released in 2012.

More news to come! Catch ya' later!
Sources: Geek Files, First Showing

UPDATE: John Carter of Mars

"WALL-E" director Andrew Stanton has given a few updates and his next film. A live-action film adaption based on Edgar Rice Burroughs' series of sci-fi novels. The story in "John Carter of Mars" centers on a civil war who veteran finds himself mysteriously transported to Mars, where his involvement with warring races of the dying planet force him to rediscover his humanity.

The film will be co-financed by both Disney and Pixar. News comes from the NBC station KSL in Salt Lake City, Utah that thanks to a new tax incentive in the state, Disney will bring 400 cast and crew to Utah and shoot John Carter of Mars for seven months.

"Utah approved up to $5.5 million in tax credits for the $28 million of work done here. Production is expected to begin in November, and Disney believes the film could become its next big movie series, akin to 'Pirates of the Caribbean.'"

Two stars from "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" will team up again to head to Mars. Taylor Kitsch, who played Gambit, and Lynn Collins, who played Wolvie's love interest Silverfox, will star in Disney's John Carter of Mars together. Kitsch will play the title character, John Carter, while Collins will play Dejah Thoris, the heir to the throne of Mars' Helium kingdom whom he falls in love with.
Producers Jim Morris and Colin Wilson hope to start filming in November of this year (though delays may have filming begin in early 2010).

UPDATE: Thomas Haden Church (Sandman from "Spider-Man 3") recently had an interview n Jeffrey Lyons' show ReelTalk to talk about appearing in "Imagine That." When asked about his variety of roles, both comedies and dramas, Church said, "I'm probably going to do a huge science fiction drama at Disney called John Carter of Mars in the spring and that's a very dramatic role."

Church didn't say what role he would be playing, so we don't exactly know what his involvement is, but it's good to have him on-board anyway because he is a great actor.

More news to come! Catch ya' later!
Sources: First Showing (1,2), The Hollywood Reporter