So, have you heard about Disney’s forthcoming film adaptation of Edgar Rice Burroughs’s classic science-fantasy novel A PRINCESS OF MARS? Sure you have! You just might not know it, however, considering the movie’s new title: JOHN CARTER. In fact, its teaser trailer recently debuted on the ’Net. Check it out:
So, you ask, why would we here at The ’Warp be shilling for a big-budget Hollywood movie? Well, because we’re publishing our own edition of Burroughs’s first “John Carter of Mars” novel, in time for the movie’s release–and the novel’s 100th anniversary!
A PRINCESS OF MARS made its debut in February 1912, and tells the story of John Carter, a former Confederate army officer who collapses in an Arizona cave–only to awake on the planet Mars (called Barsoom by its inhabitants). There he meets the giant, savage, green-skinned Tharks…and the beautiful Dejah Thoris, princess of the city of Helium. It’s love at first sight for them both, and they’ll risk the dangers of a world at war to be together, in the kind of fantastic adventure you’d expect from the creator of Tarzan.
Our edition of A PRINCESS OF MARS features gorgeous black-and-white illustrations by Eliseu Gouveia–who provided similarly fantastic artwork for our first classic re-release, J. Sheridan Le Fanu’s CARMILLA–and a beautiful portrait of Dejah Thoris, courtesy of photographer Marc Witz (who also provided the cover photo for Carmilla).
JOHN CARTER debuts in theaters on March 9, 2012.
A PRINCESS OF MARS (the Starwarp Concepts edition) will be on sale February 7, 2012.
The only difference between us and Disney? We don’t have Peter Gabriel singing a cover version of Arcade Fire’s “My Body Is a Cage.” But if you like, you can always hum the tune while you’re reading the book! 😉
