News on this has actually been circulating for a couple days now but as I'm just catching up on my regular news rounds now after a couple days away I've just come across it and it's too significant not to offer comment on.
The proposed adaptation of Edgar Rice Burroughs' John Carter of Mars has had a tough ride through development hell, having already cruised through a decent number of names and studios. Robert Rodriguez and Jon Favreau are the most prominent names to have been attached so far but both failed to get it to the big screen and once a project goes into turnaround enough times you can pretty much forget about it which I figured was what would happen here. But nope, salvation has come from an unlikely place.
John Carter of Mars is going to be made into a trilogy of films produced by, of all people, Pixar. This marks Pixar's first foray into live action film making - though Brad Bird's next will reportedly include some live action elements - and also the first time the company has sourced a film from someone else's work rather than coming up with an original story. They seem committed from bottom to top, though, and they've certainly got the resources to make sure this happens. Word is Andrew Stanton (Finding Nemo, Wall-E) will be at the helm. It's surprising but I say good on 'em for stretching out and trying something new rather than simpyl repeating past successes ...
