"John Carter of Mars" to Film in Early 2010

James Purefoy, Mark Strong, and Thomas Haden Church have joined the cast of Andrew Stanton’s adaptation of Edgar Rice Burroughs’ John Carter of Mars. Taylor Kitsch and Lynne Collins are starring in the science fiction/fantasy adventure about a Civil War veteran who suddenly finds himself on Mars in the midst of a major conflict between the planet’s warring kingdoms.

Church, Purefoy, and Strong have been added to a strong cast that also includes Willem Dafoe ,Samantha Morton, Dominic West, and Polly Walker. Production on the film is slated to begin in early 2010.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Purefoy, who was brilliant as Marc Anthony in HBO’s Rome, will portray Kantos Kan, the captain of the Kingdom of Helium’s flagship, the Xavarian. Strong, who plays the villain in the new Sherlock Holmes movie, will be Matai Shang, the godlike ruler of the Thems in John Carter, while Church (Sideways, Spider-Man 3) takes on the key role of the ambitious Thark warrior Tal Hajus

"Primeval" Returns

Three months after Britain’s ITV network announced the cancellation of Primeval, the dinosaur drama has been rescued from extinction via an innovative deal that includes financial backing from the UK digital channel Watch, BBC Worldwide, and Germany’s Pro7. The new agreement calls for the production of 13 episodes spread over two seasons. ITV will premiere the fourth Primeval series in early 2011, with reruns following quickly on Watch, which airs reruns of a number of science fiction series such as Doctor Who and Torchwood.

Later in 2011 Watch will get to air the fifth season of Primeval first with reruns following shortly on ITV. BBC Worldwide will continue to handle distribution of the new episodes of Primeval to the U.S.

According to The Guardian, the original cast of Primeval including Hannah Spearritt, Andrew Lee-Potts, and Jason Flemyng will return. Adrian Hodges will also be back as showrunner to oversee production along with Tim Haines, the creative director of Impossible Pictures, the production company behind Primeval. Haines and Hodges previously produced the critically acclaimed Walking With Dinosaurs science fact series.

In Primeval a group of scientists have to deal with prehistoric (and sometimes futuristic) beasts that have been transported through time and appear in the contemporary U.K.