First Trailer for John Carter Makes Movie Highly Anticipated

Though director Andrew Stanton's adaptation of John Carter won't be released into theaters until next year, a new teaser trailer has just been released to offer a first look at the sci-fi epic. Based on the pulp hero created by author Edgar Rice Burroughs and adapted by Stanton and screenwriter-author Michael Chabon, John Carter follows a Civil War veteran (Taylor Kitsch) who finds himself mysteriously transported to the barbaric planet of Mars where he discovers he has extraordinary abilities. John Carter actor Mark Strong has said that Stanton will stay true to the source material, so Kitsch's mostly shirtless costume should look familiar to fans of Burrough's 11-volume series of novels. The look of the movie is also consistent with the recently revealed concept art. Before watching the trailer, here's the movie's synopsis. From Academy Award-winning filmmaker Andrew Stanton comes John Carter '" a sweeping action-adventure set on the mysterious and exotic planet of Barsoom (Mars). John Carter is based on a classic novel by Edgar Rice Burroughs, whose highly imaginative adventures served as inspiration for many filmmakers, both past and present. The film tells the story of war-weary, former military captain John Carter (Kitsch), who is inexplicably transported to Mars where he becomes reluctantly embroiled in a conflict of epic proportions amongst the inhabitants of the planet, including Tars Tarkas (Willem Dafoe) and the captivating Princess Dejah Thoris (Kitsch's X-Men Origins: Wolverine co-star Lynn Collins). In a world on the brink of collapse, Carter rediscovers his humanity when he realizes that the survival of Barsoom and its people rests in his hands. John Carter opens March 9, 2012, and co-stars James Purefoy as Kantos Kan, Samantha Morton as Sola, Dominic West as Sab Than, Thomas Haden Church as Tal Hajus, Ciar¡n Hinds as Tardos Mors, Polly Walker as Sarkoja, and Bryan Cranston as a Civil War colonel. The movie also features, at least in the trailer (as audiophiles probably noted), Peter Gabriel's version of "My Body is a Cage", originally recorded by Arcade Fire.