Some Movies Are Never Meant To Be: Presentation Reel From Kerry Conran’s JOHN CARTER OF MARS

I imagine few people think about the many films that never make it to the screen. There have been many aborted features that could have hit multiplexes over the years (even before multiplexes were multiplexes) and there’s a whole movie sub-culture fascinated with these films. Some are very well known (like Tim Burton’s Superman Lives and George Miller’s Justice League) while others have been forgotten. A lot of work goes into these unmade movies – and millions of dollars can be spent on their production before they’re shelved.

The screen adaptation of Edgar Rice Burroughs’s John Carter of Mars was released by Disney as John Carter in 2012, but the film went through a very laborious birthing process. It was originally going to be made by Paramount Pictures, with Kerry Conran, the director of Sky Captain And The World Of Tomorrow at the helm. Here’s a ‘presentation reel’ of concept art and special effects tests that Conran put together. It’s been posted on Youtube by Harry Knowles – who was a producer on the film. The plug was pulled, the rights were purchased by Disney eventually made the big-budget mis-fire.

What dreams may come…

Source: Harry Knowles