Grizzled Taylor Kitsch in JOHN CARTER Ten-Minute Clip

Taylor Kitsch, John Carter

Oscar 2013 Alert: No, not in the writing or acting categories (despite the funky accents), but Andrew Stanton’s first live-action feature film, John Carter, will likely be a strong Academy Award contender in the "technical" categories, e.g., Best Visual Effects, Best Sound Editing, or even Best Art Direction, Best Makeup, and Best Costume Design. But then again, the Ryan Reynolds flop Green Lantern wasn’t nominated for anything. Anyhow, check out the 10-minute clip from the film (see below).

Chiefly based on Edgar Rice Burroughs‘ A Princess of Mars, John Carter stars Taylor Kitsch as a former Confederate captain who is (somehow) transported to Mars, aka Barsoom. Tired of war on Earth, Carter soon discovers that the Martians — among them Willem Dafoe and Lynn Collins — are just as bloodthirsty and gung-ho as his fellow Earthlings. Similarly to what goes on in our own planet in the 21st century, Mars’ environment is going to rot while its inhabitants play tribal wargames. It’s up to John Carter to rectify that situation. Will he succeed?

Also in the John Carter cast are Samantha Morton, Mark Strong, Ciaran Hinds, Dominic West, James Purefoy, Bryan Cranston, Polly Walker, Daryl Sabara, and Thomas Haden Church. Stanton co-wrote the screenplay with Mark Andrews and Michael Chabon.

John Carter, which cost Walt Disney Studios a reported $250 million, opens March 9. Disney is surely praying they’ll have an Avatar in their hands — instead of another Mars Needs Moms. Now, notice the music when the guard gets his head banged against the metal bars of John Carter’s "cage." Here’s wondering if that’ll set the tone for the film’s action scenes.