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What is it? The new film from JC (in development) about human colonists on Mars who must be rescued after becoming possessed by vengeful Martian ghosts.

General Information - Cast - Latest News

Crew Info:

Director: John Carpenter
Screenwriters: John Carpenter and Larry Sulkis
Producer: Debra Hill / Sandy Carpenter
Company: Screen Gems (a newish Sony division)
The fight choreographer will be the guy that choreographed the fights in FIGHT CLUB, BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA and so on.

Important Dates:

It's scheduled for a year 2000 release, with rumours circulating that shooting is due to begin August 1st.
Latest info is that shooting will (has) start on August 14th 2000.
Shooting is now reported to have wrapped (Sep 2000) with post-production in place in LA (Sep 21st report).

Current Plot Summary (non-spoiler): - There are more detailed plot summaries in the news section

This summary is from the co-writer Larry Sulkis -

The story takes place some 175 years in the future in a dusty frontier mining town on Mars. A small squad of police have been sent to transfer an extremely dangerous criminal, Desolation Williams, back to the main administrative Martian city, Chryse. Our heroine, Melanie, is second in command of this squad. What no one realizes is that mining operations have uncovered --and disturbed-- the ruins of an ancient Martian civilization and unleashed a kind of spiritual doomsday defense system that will relentlessly destroy any alien presence (in this case, Earthlings) inhabiting Mars. When the cops arrive at this remote outpost, no one but the criminals locked away in the local jail have survived... And the "Martian Ghosts" are determined not to let them get away.

Budget: About 30million dollars

Cast Info:

Natasha Henstridge (Species) - 'Melanie' -  IMDB Page

Jason Statham (Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels) - 'Jericho Bulter - a seasoned cop on his first escort squad assignment' IMDB Page

Ice Cube (Boyz N The Hood) - 'Desolation Williams - criminal'MovieThing Biography

Clea Duvall (Girl Interrupted) - 'Bashira Kincaid ... a rookie cop on her first Mars assignment'  Worldstar Website

Pam Grier (EFLA, Jackie Brown)  Mr Showbiz Pam Grier Profile

Joanna Cassidy (Blade Runner) - 'science officer Darlene Whitlock'   IMDB Page

Richard Cetrone - 'Big Daddy Mars (unofficial character name)' IMDB Page

Liam Waite - 'Descanso'

The Raw News - News as it comes in, the most recent is at the top.

(courtesy of Mohammad and the Makeup and FX Laboratory)

Also, kudos to Mohammad for realising that this picture

is probably Big Daddy Mars, the main baddie in the pic, played by Richard Cetrone.

Dec 22nd Fantastic Christmas Presents Cool timing this, gives us something cool to look at over Christmas. Cheers to Tom Alaerts for this fantastic stuff. I'll let him explain it all

In addition to the picture you received (I attached a higher resolution version), there was also a cdrom with the mag (same magazine as where I  got
the vampires fragment and trailer from -remember?). This cd feature a short interview with JC. You know everything of what he said except perhaps that Mars in 2176 is a terraformed planet - you can breathe on the surface. Now the cool elements were a few little pictures that popped up in this mini-interview: the 2176 number on top of the red planet, a production drawing of a posessed human, the title logo. I attached grabs of these pictures. Then, best of all, throughout the interview you could hear JC's new GOM score (well, that's what I assume it was), and it seems to become one of his grrreat soundtracks. So I mp3d the start of the interview where you can hear the music too (I had to amplify that part to make it stand out), and then you hear JC introducing himself in his best French! Because it's a short fragment and in mono the filesize is still feasible: 198K.
Tom

I think I speak for all JC fans when I say thank you very much Tom and Merry Christmas.

Dec 16th First GOM Picture - I don't know if this is a zombie or a ghost, but this is a very cool pic that was posted on Dark Horizons, the first shot we have seen of Ghosts of Mars and the wonderful work KNB effects are doing. Thanks to Bill Myers and Arthur Dewitz for pointing it out to me.

Ghosts Speak Again - Cool snippet, just tantalising enough to make us excited, from a ghostly extra:

I was an extra in john carpenters ghost of mars. i was wondering if he had kept  the scene where the warriors were chanting to big daddy mars. some people had knife blades and piercing on their faces, weraring black vests and spikes, weilding bloody sprockets and other weapons

More GOM - Ned gives us an interesting look at some of his experiences of the filming

 I live in New Mexico and was very happy that GOM was filmed here. I'm a fan of John's and was determined to get his autograph(because I'm an autograph collector). I knew they would be filming at a warehouse in rio rancho and went there with my friend to seek out autographs of the cast. We got there about 8:00pm and stayed until 3:00am. The crew didn't mind us staying on the set. A lady walked up to us and asked us many questions regarding John and the cast. Well it turns out she was his assitant and she gave us autographed pictures of John. Wow! After thanking her a lot, we waited to see if we could get any of the cast. A man told us that Ice Cube wasn't needed on set that day, so we shouldn't get our hopes for his autograph. They would come out of the trailers fast and most of the time we didn't have time to ask them for autographs. We even saw John come out from filming to go to his trailer, but we didn't want to disturb him because he looked very busy and we didn't want to distract him from making a good movie.... at about 3 am they seemed to be wrapping up and this would be our last chance. I looked over to see Natasha coming out of the building. She was smoking a cigarette and was just standing there. As soon as I got the nerve, I went over and asked her if I could have her autograph. She said,"Oh my god its 3 am," and then laughed and said sure she would sign. I've met many celebrities but she is the nicest person in the world. She was so nice that, she made Jason Statham and Clea Duvall come over to sign. It was so cool because they actually stood in line basically to sign autographs and take pictures with us. Pam just walked by even though the cast was signing. Everyone was so nice and joked around with us a bit. Clea seemed new to the whole autograph thing and couldn't believe we wanted her autograph. Jason even gave us an autographed page of the script's title page. They were all wearing light blue long sleeve shirts with some kind of patch on the arm. It was cool getting pictures with
them in costume. I thought this story might be interesting to readers of your website or interesting to you.
-NED

Great, you lucky b*****d Ned! :-) Nice little snippet of the uniforms the cast will be wearing as well.

Nov 22nd 2000

Ghosts of Mars Get In Touch - A bit quiet for a while, so here is some insider info straight from a spooky crew member

How is filming going?

PRINCIPAL FILMING WAS COMPLETED ON THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2000, IN CULVER
CITY, CA. DURING FILMING, WE SHOT AT:
1. A GYPSUM MINE OUTSIDE OF ALBUQUERQUE, NM FOR 6 WEEKS. (MARS MINING TOWN
EXTERIORS)
2. AN OLD WAREHOUSE IN RIO RANCHO, NM FOR A FEW DAYS. (MARS TRAIN INTERIORS)
3. AN ARMY GUARD ARMORY FOR ONE DAY ( EXTERIOR TRAIN GREEN SCREEN)
4. AN OLD POWER PLANT IN EAGLE ROCK, CALIFORNIA FOR 6 WEEKS. (MARS MINING
TOWN INTERIORS)
5. A SMALL SOUND STAGE IN CULVER CITY, FOR THE FINAL DAY. ( GREEN SCREEN
MISC.)
WE NOW HAVE 4 MONTHS OF POST PRODUCTION WORK, WHICH INCLUDES MUSIC SCORING,
EDITING, AND OF COURSE, ALOT OF SPECIAL AFFECTS/CGI WORK.

What does JC seem like?

JOHN IS EASY GOING AND RUNS A RATHER RELAXED SET. HE IS FRIENDLY AND
APPROACHABLE BY MEMBERS OF HIS CREW. HE SMOKES ALOT OF WINSTONS. HIS
FAVORITE CAR IS A CADILLAC, HIS IS FOREST GREEN. HIS FAVORITE BEER IS
ANCHOR STEAM.

Have you got a full cast list?

YES, I DO.  I ALSO HAVE  THE ORIGINAL AS WELL AS SHOOTING SCRIPTS.
HERE IS A PARTIAL LIST OF PRINCIPALS:
1.NATASHA HENSTRIDGE AS MELANIE BALLARD
2. ICE CUBE AS DESOLATION WILLIAMS
3. JASON STATHAM AS JERICHO BUTLER (BACON FROM LOCK STOCK AND 2 SMOKING
BARRELLS.)
4. CLEA DUVALL AS BASHIRA KINCAID
5. PAM GRIER AS HELENA
6. JOANNA CASSIDY AS DR. WHITLOCK
7. RICHARD CETRONE AS BIG DADDY MARS (NOT THE CHARACTERS NAME, JUST HIS
DESCRIPTION)
9. LIAM WAITE AS DESCANSO (IN REAL LIFE, HE IS NATASHA'S FIANCEE, THEY HAVE
A SON, TRISTAN)

What is the vibe of the film? Gory, suspense, etc?

THE VIBE OF THE FILM IS GORE AND MILD SUSPENSE. LIKE MOST OF JOHNS MOVIES,
IT HAS TO DO WITH ESCAPING A PLACE/SITUATION/BAD GUY(S). THE MAIN PLOT
COULD BE DESCRIBED AS ESCAPE FROM THE GHOSTS OF MARS.

Our spooky crew member will be in touch again in the future.

Nov 9th 2000

Various GOM Spoiler Reviews

This first one is from Chud and is from Aint It Cool News

By Larry Sulkis & John Carpenter (no draft or date supplied)

2150.

Chryse. First Earth city on Mars.

Melanie Ballard (to be played by Natasha Henstridge) is an attractive but hardened woman who's the only known survivor of what was supposed to
be a routine prisoner transfer.

As she stands before a "Big Brother-esque" group of inquisitors (not interrogators... INQUISITORS, which gives you an idea how our future has been
imagined), she begins to recount her side of the experience that resulted in the total nuclear devastation of the area it occurred.

Not a friendly occurrence.

Flash back...

A group of cops, Melanie included, are en route to pick up a prisoner for transfer. As we meet these people, we realize we're in familiar territory.
We've got a rogue's gallery of protagonists. Jericho, a bald and gruff soldier (to be played by "Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels" thug Jason
Statham). Bashira, a slightly masculine gal in her early 20's ("The Faculty's" Clea DuVall), their leader Helena, and a couple more. The crew is mostly
women, which adds a nice dynamic to the proceedings and helps distance it from work like "Pitch Black" and "Alien". They come off less like a group
of warriors looking for a fight, and more like people doing a job. Nothing fancy. Not braggadocio. Just business, and from the looks of them, they're
a bit weary. Nobody sticks out, which is good and bad.

You need a character the audience (or in this case, reader) can latch onto. Whether it's a Ripley, Riddick, Hicks, Hudson, or Snake Plissken, you
need a strong lead. So far we haven't found one.

The laid back crew snaps to attention a bit when they realize the man they've come to apprehend is none other than the notorious James
"Desolation" Williams. Known throughout the land as a holy terror, they then realize they are not on a simple milk run (or "bug hunt" as it were).

Here's where a warning light goes off for me. I know that this notorious antihero is to be portrayed by Ice Cube. While his work in "Three Kings" was
solid, and he's proven he can handle himself in comedy and cheese like "Anaconda", the thought of him as a rogue like this jeopardizes the impact of
the film. If he can't pull off the role, the seams begin to show in the movie. That's something no script can reveal, and we'll have to see...

They arrive at their destination, Shining Canyon, and we immediately know we're in familiar Carpenter territory. It's a ghost town. Like Hobb's End of
"In the Mouth of Madness", the Antarctic base of "The Thing", or even THE WORLD through Roddy Piper's eyes in "They Live", our protagonists are
already out of their element. Off guard. Isolation and claustrophobia are themes the great horror director knows all too well. Kind of echoes his
career in Hollywood, eh?

So there's a few bits of tension as they familiarize themselves with these bizarre new surroundings, and there's a cheap scare or two thrown in to
get the viewer off guard. Then they start finding things...

Bodies. Bizarre sculptures made up of household items. Bad stuff. Grisly stuff.

(If you're worried I'm giving away spoilers, we're not even 20 pages into the script at this point).

The town is gone, except for the prisoners and our protagonists. Once again, the prisoners are your run of the mill characters, save two.

"Desolation" Williams, menacing and mysterious.

Whitlock. The only person who has an idea what they're up against.

Whitlock has seen the path of destruction. The death. Only she isn't telling the whole truth.

Things are starting to get interesting and then the GHOSTS are introduced.

As far as plot goes, that's all I'll say. Here's what I thought about the script:

Carpenter has a way of working his magic with limited resources. Here he seems to have a lot at his disposal: An otherworldly setting. An ensemble
of contrasting character (and acting) types, and momentum. Even though "Red Planet" and "Mission to Mars" have beaten him to the punch, this a
far different tale. One that could have easily been told in the Old West, a spaceship, or a sleepy little town near you. It's that kind of story. Strip
away the chassis and it's another claustrophobic and SMALL story.

That said, it doesn't "feel" like Carpenter in some ways.

It does "feel" like "Pitch Black". "Desolation" feels like a Riddick-Lite, and the empty town stalked by an unknown menace seems awfully familiar,
though "Pitch" was far from wholly original. Will comparisons be made? Yes, especially with the abundance of P.O.V. Shots that made the Twohy
film effective.

Also, the main character is obviously Melanie who changes character like clothes. Is she tough? Is she hiding something? Some of it doesn't ring
true, and it'll require Natasha Henstridge to pull off more than she has previously onscreen to make it work. It seems a lot more like a role for
original lead Courtney Love, but I'm certainly glad she's out of the picture (literally!).

So the story escalates and as we realize what's what I ran into the three things about the story which irked me.

1. THE VILLAINS ARE NOT INTERESTING.

A sad truth. The "ghosts" of the title underwhelm in every way. A film like this relies on the opposition to distinguish it from the pack. The
Xenomorph Ripley battles was as classic a villain as they get. The T-100 Sarah Conner battled was a classic. The predator. The Graboids of
"Tremors". They all have their niche. Hell, Carpenter's "The Thing" featured the most amazing villain of all. The villains here have something in
common with The Thing which I will not spoil. Let's just say it makes people susceptible to change...

However, these villains are not classic. They're good fodder for action heroics, but not the kind of antagonist that gets an audience's investment.

2. THERE'S NOT ENOUGH SCIENCE FICTION. OR HORROR.

Once things get started, it's an action film. Hell, Peckinpah is even referenced to in the script! There's no real meat as to what the future holds,
what conditions brought about the "ghosts", and no really cool tie-ins to our own theories on extraterrestrial life. (Even Mission to Mars had that
great shot of the "face" being revealed.

This film needs clever flourishes to set it apart. It has none.

3. WE'VE SEEN IT ALL BEFORE.

The last half of this film is the stuff we've seen many times before. Expendable characters appear just in time to die, there's action heroics, and
explosions galore. Thrills? Maybe. The trademark horror and sci-fi we expect from Carpenter? No. Also, there's quite a bit of Lesbian references. Not
really positive stuff. What's that about?

Now, as a script, it leaves a lot to be desired. However, Carpenter has a knack for making what's on the page work onscreen. Forget "Village of the
Damned", think about the stuff of greatness...

The blood testing scene in "The Thing" was fairly static on paper. On screen, it seethed of energy and tension.

The chilliest moments in "Prince of Darkness" were achieved through the music and atmosphere, not the words on a page.

Hell, even Jack Burton was nowhere near the icon he turned out to be on the page.

It's a backbone, and in this case it's just a series of things we've seen already.

A few cool things: The last scene is a throwback to another time. Kind of cheesy, kind of a cheat, but if execute right will leave an audience
cheering. Also, there are a lot of things that will be effective if the FX artists do a good and ORIGINAL job. Also, a HUGE amount rests on the
effectiveness of Ice Cube and Henstridge. If they do solid work, we could have two leads worth spending 2 hours with.

We shall see, but in my opinion Carpenter has rough work to do behind the lens.

FYI: There's a scene in the film where we'll see a familiar severed head, and I think you know who.

This second one is from Dark Horizons

Ghosts of Mars: You've heard about rock stars and locations for John Carpenter's new project, but what in the hell is it about? 'Desmondo' has a
written up a minor spoiler-level synopsis based what one of the crewman on the project knows:

"The basic plot premise is that there are these miners on Mars who accidentally dig up the remains of some ancient Mars warriors. The spirits of
these warriors then posses the bodies of the miners and cause them to mutilate themselves. Now, at the same time this is happening, Ice Cube's
character is being transported either somewhere else on the planet, or off the planet (not sure yet). He is a really bad criminal named Desolation (I
know for sure) Jones (I think). The police officer that is coming to take him wherever he is going is Natasha Henstridge. Another little twist is that
Desolation's friends, three guys named Uno, Dos, and Trace are planning on busting him out.

So as you can probably put together while transporting the prisoner, they run into the trio somewhere near the mine and violence insues. Now, here is
where it gets pretty cool, the zombie warriors that have come from the remains are trying to kill everyone around them, there's a reason why but I
won't spoil it...but if someone kills a Zombie warrior, the spirit that possessed the zombie then posses whoever killed it. So there is some fun things
going on with these guys running from an army of zombies that they cannot kill. Another thing is that the army of zombies likes to use razor discs and
spears to attack the characters "

Harry Knowles in GOM

Yep, the ginger Jabba has a part in GOM as it seems him and JC are now decent friends owing to Harry's understandable admiration for the man

Wanna different kinda Harry head.... eh baby? Also: GHOST OF MARS news

Hey folks, Harry here.... Some months back you might remember that I had my head cast for the upcoming John Carpenter movie, GHOSTS OF
MARS.

At the time, I said that we would be putting together a full length video presentation on the site that over the course of a few weeks, you'd get to see
how to take a perfect full head cast of someone.... using me as the example.

Due to editing equipment issues, that is still being worked on, what we have here is a brief.... over-view of the entire process including WAY TOO
DARK final frames of the finished head. Soon, I'll have perfectly lit images of the KNB created HARRY HEAD for John Carpenter's GHOSTS OF
MARS.....

Along side those clips will be full info on who at KNB was doing this to me... as well as what all the different gunk was they were using. This will
probably be one of the only times you will ever see me looking like Dynamo from RUNNING MAN.... or like the beginnings of the Kingpin.... Harry
sans hairy is scary.

Some people have a bad trip with this sort of thing... me... hell, I'd do it again in a drop of the hat.... reminded me of a cool sensory deprivation tank
they have over at the University of Texas.... Tiny scrapings sounding like a dental pic in my ear canal scraping flesh away with that chromey prong
thing.

Soon there will be more cool stuff regarding this experience.... For now...

CLICK HERE FOR A 15 MEG QUICKTIME MAKING OF A HARRY HEAD!!!

Yes, I am in GHOSTS OF MARS.... and there was a need for my head to be cast and then made. Do the addition and division and I think you have
an idea of basically what it is I do in GHOSTS OF MARS.

Meanwhile.... I would like to know how they teach counting in Florida.

Nov 6th - Update at last. It has been a while - combination of things being really quiet and me being really busy.

Official GOM Update

Got this inside report on Sep 21st, sorry for putting it up so late:

By now you probably already know that JC and his crew have left New Mexico and will be wrapping up the last few weeks of shooting
in LA.  Things are still going very well but I can't say for sure when the film will be ready for release. There has been lots of speculation but the
amount of CGI necessary in post is huge, that on top of the basic editing process could mean a release as late as early fall. Nothing would surprise
me.

Also, I know there has been a lot of discussion about this, but, at least for the moment, the title of the film is "Ghosts of Mars," it's printed on my
script so that's as official as we can hope for right now.

Thanks again for keeping all the JC fans happy and informed.

Check out Mohammad Khan's site for more news, including:

John Carpenter Speaking about GOM - a short interview with JC about his new project.

September 21st Back at last....

Courtney
Here is another rumour, this one claims to be straight from a member of the crew

my girlfriend is ***** . Ms. Love did not hurt her ankle she was fired due to not showing up to meetings and constantly being late. but they told the press the ankle story...

Don't really have anything to add to that, let's just hope the film doesn't suffer.

The Website
Remember me wondering what happened to www.johncarpenter.com? :

johncarpenter.com - the story ebhind this is the people who maintained it for the webmaster never told them they let it go, and hours later... the wallpaper guy bought it. i think they are in court trying to get it back

On-Set Ghosts Report

Thanks to Tom Alaerts for pointing this at me "> Ghosts of Mars: 'AgentX' has more from the set of the new John Carpenter film where production is underway:
"Natasha Henstridge may have arrived in Albuquerque late last week and been seen on the set (an Indian reservation in northern New Mexico) yesterday. I'm told Joanna Cassidy also was on the set, but I have no idea of what she was doing there, other than going around and greeting the "Background Artists" (that is apparently what they call the extras). The location is in the desert, as expected. Expect lots of rocks painted red to look like Martian rocks. The movie may actually look like the Mars that NASA has revealed over the past 20 years. And they seem to have a train engine set up as a "ship". Expect lots of violence, bloodshed, gore. The bad guys are "zombies". A male "star" was spotted but not identified. I've been able unable to locate a cast list for the movie so far, but he is described as middle-aged and balding. I doubt it's Patrick Stewart. Lots of water is being made available to the Background Artists. At least one member of the crew is constantly reminding them to drink plenty of water. The filming actually began earlier in the day than previously anticipated, so the whole crew and cast were subjected to the gruelling New Mexico sun. The heat here is not as bad as in Arizona or southern California, but at this high elevation (around 1 mile or more) the air is thin and doesn't hold any moisture, so people get heat sickness and sun sickness quickly. Temperatures are not as bad as they were two weeks ago, when we were seeing temperatures of 105-110 degrees Fahrenheit (which is above normal)."

This is another one:

"Hello, I saw some of the remarks regarding the extras and them needing to carry water canteens, that information is wrong. Sand and John have ensured that not only is there plenty of drinking water but plenty of food and snacks with some of the best film catering I've had in a long time. The set is amazing, the script is a definite page turner and the cast and crew are wonderful. Sure, we've had some problems, wind storms, sudden thunder showers and major wardrobe overhauls for the extras, but we have an excellent cast and crew, awesome food, mind blowing special effects and no worries with sunscreen and working in the heat as we;ve been on nights throughout the entire shoot. Thanks for keeping us updated, Karen Harris"

John Carpenter's GhostS FROM Mars

"Hi Marc, I work for a company associated with John Carpenter and thought you might like the scoop on the latest GOM news. Or you could say JCGFM news. Why JCGFM? Well there been a slight name change to his latest movie. It will now be known as "John Carpenters Ghosts From Mars"! Thats right, with the plural on "ghosts" and the "from" replacing "of". John had be pushing very nard to get his name on the title, also the studio throught "from" would be a better descriptor
than "of". The Weasel "

Thanks to The Weasel for that info. No suprise with the JC in the title, but now I have to start using GFM instead of GOM as the title. I think I'll stick with GOM as we all know what it refers to.

Cool JC Feature and INTERVIEW!

Thanks to Tom Alaerts for pointing me at this www.fandom.com feature that discusses GOM and other things

GHOST OF MARS: John Carpenter Interview The director discusses his upcoming science-fiction film, currently in production.
Author: John Thonen
Date: 9/7/00

The Internet has become an amazing source of information on past, current and upcoming films, but, the net's very nature has also made it a breeding ground for gossip and misinformation, particularly for actors and filmmakers with strong cult followings. One such director, John Carpenter, took time from the busy tasks of his upcoming film, Ghosts of Mars, which began production in August, to share some straight-from-the-source facts with Fandom denizens about his latest project.
 

One inaccuracy that recently surfaced about Carpenter's upcoming science fiction-action-horror hybrid regards the film's title. While long reportedin the plural form, some Internet postings have suggested that parent studioSony/Columbia (through their newly revived Screen Gems division) had changedthe title to a singular supernatural entity. "Nope," says the always laid-back Carpenter. "Many, many ghosts. They're pretty much all over the place."

Carpenter also shares the names of key cast members, laying rest to reports of Whoopi Goldberg's involvement. "Whoppi was approached, and she was interested," Carpenter tells us. "But it just didn't come together." The director declines to share what Goldberg's role might have been, explaining that "I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings by letting them know they were the second choice for the part."

The rest of the cast is largely made up of performers on the cusp of major stardom. Rapper turned actor Ice Cube tackles Desolation Williams, whose very name conjures up such past Carpenter anti-heroes as Snake Plissken. Coming on the heels of Cube's critical success in Three Kings and commercial success in Next Friday, GOM might just be a star-making vehicle for the performer.

The film's female lead held similar breakthrough potential for another musician-turned-actor, Courtney Love, at least until late July. Love was set to play Melanie Ballard, a Martian cop in pursuit of the notorious Desolation Williams. Unfortunately, the actress injured her ankle during training for the rigorous fight scenes, and for a short time the film's start, scheduled for early August, seemed threatened by Love's sudden departure. Thankfully, Carpenter managed to sign Natasha Henstridge (Species) and the production is back on track.

Carpenter's story (co-written with Larry Sulkis) presents Melanie as something of a rebel within the matriarchal society that dominates the Martian colony. Despite her position of authority, Melanie's willingness to sleep with men, and even bear their children, makes her nearly as much of a social outsider as Williams.

The third lead character is Jericho Butler, played by British actor Jason Statham, from the sleeper hit Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. Carpenter described Jericho as "a seasoned cop on his first escort squad assignment." He adds that the character is an expert at lock-picking and fixing machinery, skills that will likely come into use in the film's adventure tale.

Also featured are Blade Runner femme fatale Joanna Cassidy, as science officer Darlene Whitlock and Clea Duvall as Bashira Kincaid. The busy young actress (whom Fandom readers may best recall as Stokely, the morose outsider in Robert Rodriguez's The Faculty) joins GOM's cast as a rookie cop on her first Mars assignment. Carpenter says that Duvall generally plays "geek girls," but she will be opening some eyes through her character. "None of that in this film," he states. "She's a lioness in this one."

Carpenter is notably excited about his cast, admitting that Jason Statham had been his original choice for the Desolation Williams character and that he was briefly "a little unsure at first" when Screen Gem's urged him to give the part to Cube. "When he came in and we started talking about the character, he had some great ideas. He's a very interesting and smart man. Very focused on what he's doing. I'm very happy to have him."

Carpenter also feels that the change benefited the story. "Originally it was Desolation and Melanie, and we did a rewrite and expanded the Jericho character for Jason, and that really changed the dynamic. I think it's better than what it was originally." Carpenter had also been pleased by Courtney Love's involvement, describing her as "a fascinating person." Her replacement by Hentsridge, likely demanded some minimal rewrites, but longtime screenwriter Carpenter is more than up to the job.

For his crew, the director has rounded up such common Carpenter collaborators as actors Pam Grier and Peter Jason, co-producers Debra Hill and Sandy King (Mrs. Carpenter in real life), cinematographer Gary Kibbe, makeup effects house K.N.B., and stunt coordinator Jeff Imada, who will likely be kept busy considering Carpenter's description of his movie. "There 's a lot of action in this film. A lot of action. There's a siege on a jail, fights on a train, battle sequences. Lots of physical training for everyone.Jeff has them all out there right now, learning how to kick ass."

Carpenter says that no decision had yet been made on who would be handling the film's visual effects, sharing only that "There'll be effects, but the effects have to serve the story. Not the other way around." When asked how he expected to achieve the effects for the zeppelins that some web sites have talked of as a mode of transportation for the Martian colonists, Carpenter only laughs.

"There's a zeppelin in my film? No. There's a weather balloon. Joanna Cassidy's character makes an escape in a modified weather balloon and travels across the Martian landscape in it. But no zeppelins. No cheesy spaceships. None of that stuff."

With a major rapper in his cast, it was only a matter of time before the subject of Ice Cube contributing to the soundtrack came up, earning only a noncommittal response. "Who knows? At this point, things like that aren't decided. I'll be scoring it, but I certainly wouldn't be negative to [him] contributing. I'm negative to nothing really. I'm a very positive kind of guy."

One notable difference between GOM and most sci-fi offerings is a lack of emphasis on high tech, futuristic aspects. The man behind classics like Halloween, Escape From New York, and The Thing, as well as 1998's Vampires, says that "most of it takes place in this little outpost, a frontier type town on Mars that's near a mine. There's no trace on the surface that there was any past civilization on the planet, but the mines have uncovered this, well, basically a trap."
 

It's Carpenter's intention to present, not just The Angry Red Planet, but one that's seriously pissed-off. "It's a Land-of-the-Pharaohs [a 1956 film about the building of Egypt's Great Pyramid) kind of situation where these doors open and out comes this almost unkillable evil that sweeps across the planet. That's our dilemma. It takes us over. You're not human anymore. You become an ancient Martian warrior and you gather together and start attacking. Wiping out anything on the planet that you perceive as an invader."

Another variation in Carpenter's approach to his tale is that the long deceased Martians aren't the typical highly advanced culture found in most aliens-meet-humans tales. "They're a barbaric tribal society. Their race developed no high technology," the director explains of his long extinct antagonists. "What they developed was of the supernatural, and this trap is their sentinel. Something left behind to make sure their world is never claimed by others."

Followers of Carpenter's past work and influences have already drawn parallels to concepts in GOM, noting that the film's leads-two cops and one convict-are identical to that of Assault on Precinct 13, a film that also deals with a small band of people barricaded in a jail and battling hordes of attackers. Even the gender and racial mix is the same: two men, one of whom is black, and one woman. Carpenter himself downplays the similarities.

"Well, there's a jail, a prisoner, a barricade and an attack. So yeah. There are some superficial similarities. But that 'people barricaded somewhere' is something I've visited a lot. It's there in The Thing and Prince of Darkness. Every film has it's antecedents, but this one is really closer to Zulu [a stirring, reality-based British action film about a handful of soldiers who successfully repelled thousands of Zulu tribesmen] which was also a major influence on Assault.

"Zulu is a favorite of mine," Carpenter continues. "There's just something about a small group and overwhelming odds. I like what it brings to a story and the characters."

Another link drawn by many is that GOM's storyline bears some similarities to Quatermass and The Pit (a 1958 BBC TV serial and 1967 Hammer film, titled 5 Million Years To Earth in the U.S). Carpenter has never concealed his admiration for that film's writer, Nigel Kneale, but he doesn't see a strong link between the films. "All that stuff is always in the back of my mind from childhood, but there's a thing he [Kneale] did for British TV called The Stone Tapes, which has much more influence here. I read his script for it, and it's really creepy. It's about this cathedral, and the stones in it hold these, spirits and images, of things that happened within its walls in the past. It's a fabulous idea. So I think that probably echoed more than anything else."

When asked if the time spent in New Mexico shooting Vampires was part of the inspiration for GOM, Carpenter downplays the connection. "No, not really. I
had the idea about a year and a half ago. New Mexico certainly plays an important part in it because there's these Indian pueblos [the Zia Pueblo] we saw there, and the Indians are very cooperative about letting us use them, letting us do just about anything: stage fights, gun battles, blow stuff up, even paint everything red. This is Mars, so everything has to be red, you know."

When asked how the red planet effect will be achieved, the director is uncommonly reticent: "If I told you what we're using you'd be amazed. So I'm not going to tell you. But I was stunned when I saw the test footage. My jaw dropped. I could believe how great it looked and how it had been done."

Asked about the rehearsal process, Carpenter says, "It's very important. And there's a lot of benefits to it." Like many directors, Carpenter`s method is to do a read-through of the script first. "It lets you hear your lines and hear the ones that just thud and lie there. We do nightly rewrites during the first week of rehearsals to adjust for that and for the input the actors bring to the table. Making a film is constant adjusting. It's Darwinian. You drop what doesn't work, and something better develops out of the process."

Pressed for examples, Carpenter shares that "I told Cube this new idea I had been kicking around for the ending, and the next day he came in and he'd written the whole thing and it was just great. So we incorporated that. It also let's you individualize the lines. For example, Jason is British, has a Cockney accent. Now that wasn't the original character, so Larry and I had to do rewrites so the dialogue worked for him, and we did a lot of that with Jason's involvement. That's just being smart. But you have to get as much of that done before you are out there shooting. Because you have to hit the ground running."

Pressed as to how flexible he is with actor contributions, Carpenter tells us, "I'm always open to ideas, to changes. Nothing is precious about a screenplay or about a cut. An actor can say what they want as long as they don't change my narrative or suddenly become a different character. But in terms of individualizing who that character is-if it's better than what's on the page, I want to hear it." (That very flexibility will likely help thedirector weather the strains of adapting Hentsridge to what had been Courtney Love's role, with little preparation time.)

The action scenes in Carpenter's recent Vampires, which he credited as being influenced by western movie masters like Sam Peckinpah and Sergio Leone, reflected some changes in the director's standard techniques, which he says would likely continue on GOM. "Yeah. Probably more of things in that vein. A lot of that depends on the characters and how they play against each other.There's a lot of action in this movie, and that will require a different cutting style than some of my older movies. It's an evolving thing."

When asked if his GOM editing style would be closer to the rapid fire, and at times near subliminal, editing of young directors like Armageddon's Michael Bay, Carpenter is at first hesitant. "I don't know how to comment, really. I think that sometimes it's fast just for the sake of being fast. I didn't care much for The Rock [an earlier Bay film], but there were things in Armageddon that I thought were really fun and stirring. At least until the shuttles took off and started zipping and zooming around like some cheesy space opera thing. Then they lost me. The stuff at the space station? I thought a lot of it was just silly. And that asteroid? It was like something out of Planet of the Vampires [a 1965 Italian sci-fi film, often cited as one of the inspirations for Alien). I'm like, 'What the hell is this and how much did it cost?' But it worked for the audience, I guess."

Carpenter does share with us that not all the web rumors reports about his latest film are inaccurate. Such as the one about the near collapse of the GOM project a few months ago "Now that one's true. It's a hard one to tell you about, though. This is the first film for a new company, Screen Gems, which I guess is to sort of be the Dimension-type branch for Sony. Their mandate was that they were supposed to make films under 15-million. So, along comes this film, and it's twice that. So there were problems right out of the gate. There was a struggle going on over it, and I just thought, 'Eh, I don't want to do this.' So I withdrew for a while. But it got back on track, and now we're doing it. At least this week. Next week. Who knows?"

One of the more interesting results of Carpenter's GOM down time, were some comments he made at the South by Southwest Film Festival "Yeah, I had a discussion with Robert Rodriguez and Harry Knowles about my plans to revolutionize Hollywood, and how to go about doing it." Citing the incredible strides made in digital filmmaking and electronic post-production, an enthusiastic Carpenter says that "we can own the business. No middle men. No money men. It can be done, and I know how. All we have to do is go out and do it. But I don't know how many filmmakers really want to do it. How many will embrace it."

Carpenter suggested at the time of the festival that he might soon be starting a self-funded, digital project, and the idea hasn't lost its appeal to him. "I come from low-budget filmmaking and have gone back and forth throughout my career making real low ones, big ones-anything. It would be very easy for me just because I'm a brand name. If I made a genre film, it would sell."

The appeal to an independent filmmaker such as Carpenter is obvious. "You'd control the production, and you'd own the copyright. You'd own everything. That intrigues me because, there's a business side to me as well. I'm not just purely a liberal hippie. I'm a big fan of capitalism. So controlling the copyright is a very tantalizing idea. I'm still interested. It's something to think about."

Meanwhile, we`ll have to contend ourselves thinking about Ghosts of Mars.

Fantastic interview.

August 9th 1pm GMT - News from Dark Horizons

Ghosts of Mars: 'Agent X' scored some up to the minute information on John Carpenter's new project:
"Filming is supposed to start on Monday (August 14) at a location just north of Albuquerque. The extras are being told to show up at 4 PM and that they will work until 4 AM. They have hired over 100 extras for the film, of which nearly 100 will be "warriors" in leather and dark, raggy clothing (some with spikes). I've heard some say "Think of the 'Road Warrior'". There are minors, scientists, and warriors. I don't know how many miners but there are very few "scientists".
It sounds like Carpenter may produce an unusually high body count even for one of his own movies in this one. New Mexico is experiencing an unusually hot season this year and the extras have been told to bring canteens with plenty of water for themselves. It sounds like filming will be under extreme conditions."

August 9th 2000 Website - Just to let everyone know that there won't be any more updates until September as I am off on honeymoon. Keep the news coming in so that I can do a bumper update when I get back, and look out for a fantastic new JC DVD section as well.

GOM Casting - Coming Attractions reports:

August 4, 2000... A scooper named Danielle told us that actor/stuntman Richard Cetrone has been cast to play the leader of the Martian warriors. We've listed Cetrone's name in the credits, albeit unconfirmed for the time being. [Thanks Danielle.]

His IMDB listing has him down mainly as a stuntman.

August 2nd 2000 JC Websites - As I mentioned before, www.johncarpenter.com is no longer associated with our favourite director, probably due to the makers realising the considerable effort required to keep a website up to date. I hope GOM gets a decent site pretty soon. Anyway, on a similar tack, there is another interesting website registered, www.ghostsofmars.com - a strange one as this is believed to be the incorrect title for the film. The current working title is Ghost (singular) of Mars. Boring news? Well, it beats abusing the recent GOM casting decision. Anyway, the website registration details are:

Here is the raw output for domain
ghostsofmars.com
as obtained by
whois.networksolutions.com (NETWORK SOLUTIONS, INC.).

Registrant:
DE SOUZA, CHAD (GHOSTSOFMARS-DOM)
9/28 Wells Street
SOUTH MELBOURNE, VICTORIA 3205
AU

Domain Name: GHOSTSOFMARS.COM

Record last updated on 20-Oct-1999.
Record expires on 20-Oct-2001.
Record created on 20-Oct-1999.
Database last updated on 31-Jul-2000 21:44:55 EDT.

Again, no idea who this Chad guy is and whether he has anything to do with the movie.

August 1st 2000 Oh No! It seems that both of last weeks reports on Courtney Love's replacement were wrong, Matt G sent me this info

Natasha Henstridge (Species) lands the lead role in John Carpenter's GHOSTS OF MARS
Natasha will be playing a non-lesbian 'breeder' cop that ends up in a pretty fucked up situation involving the ghosts of Mars. With the lead role now filled, the production will begin steaming ahead with BROM tattoos, KNB monstrous practical effects and the inevitable badass Carpenter theme. You should see this confirmed in the trades probably this Monday or Tuesday.

Shit, I tell you what, I'm worried now. Species and Species II are two of the lamest films ever made, with a fair chunk of the blame falling on Henstridge's mahogany shoulders. I seriously hope that JC has picked up on a quality in her (apart from the obvious....) that we havn't seen before. Or maybe 'Melanie' is now a non-speaking, hardly seen role. Mind you, on the bright side, Jameson Parker was a wet slop in Prince of Darkness and that was still a very cool film.

July 27th 2000 Love Replacements - Two conflicting reports have popped up on Coming Attractions regarding Courtney Love's replacement :

July 26, 2000... OK, two different scoopers with two totally different claims to make. First up is the fellow who swears to us that Famke Janssen (X-Men, GoldenEye) has offically signed on to play the character of Melanie in Ghosts of Mars. Janssen is supposed to be taking over the role Courtney Love was supposed to play but had to give up due to injury. Filming will be delayed two days because of another film Famke is finishing, then the actress will leap into her Martian boots...or at least that's what they tell us. [Anonymous.]

Our second scooper tells us it's not Janssen but Michelle Yeoh who'lll be taking over the part. They kept their scoop short and to the point but promised more juicy stuff later. Let's see which one, if any, pans out. [Second delivery by 'TheBigOnonymous'.]

Interesting rumours - would love to see Yeoh in the part myself.

July 25th 2000 First off, I want to apologise for the very extended break between updates and also to thank those of you who stuck with the site. I shall endeavour to keep the updates regular but with all the work I have at the moment it can be difficult. A lot of things have happened since the last update - thanks to all those of you who keep sending me news via e-mail. You know who you are, cheers. On with the news...

GOM Round Up The biggest news I guess has got be Courtney Love leaving the movie. The official word is that a sprained ankle has put her out, and there are unofficial rumours (as there always are) of a rift or just creative differences. GOM will still be on course without her and no confirmed word of a replacement yet. Here are some of the e-mails I recieved over the last few months (sorry if I don't quote/thank everyone for this, please keep news coming in):

Looks like the trades are about to start reporting that Courtney Love has left the production of John Carpenter's upcoming sf/action/horror film
GHOSTS OF MARS, and the excuse given is going to involve injury of some sort. I've spoken with several sources close to camps for Love and the
studio on this picture, though, and that's not the case. I know that John Carpenter and his producer, Sandy King, both fought very hard to get Courtney on the film, but observers say the rehearsal and pre-production period has been wrought with tension as it became clear the casting wasn't going to work. Every effort seems to have been made by the director, but the official word has finally been handed down, and Love is gone. Pam Grier has just joined the cast in a major supporting role, and right now, offers for the lead are out to actresses with strong international appeal, and an announcement about a replacement for Love is expected immediately.
Also, JC's Body Bags DVD is now available for $13.99 at kencranes.com
Sincerely,
Matthew Giaquinto

Injury forces Love from Carpenter's "Mars"
By Claude Brodesser
HOLLYWOOD (Variety) - Rock crooner-turned-thesp Courtney Love has lost her role in the futuristic frightener "John Carpenter's Ghosts of Mars," after injuring her ankle earlier this week while getting into shape for the film. Love would have played a police lieutenant opposite Ice Cube ("Three Kings," "Next Friday") and Jason Staham ("Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels").  Carpenter and Larry Sulkis wrote the script. According to a production insider, a tight $30 million budget and an even tighter Aug. 8 start means producers will not be able to wait for the star to mend. No word yet on who may fill her athletic shoes. The film is set up at Screen Gems, the specialty arm of Sony Pictures. Love, who has appeared in pictures "The People vs. Larry Flynt" and "Man on the Moon" will next appear be in theaters with the indie film "Julie Johnson," which she wrapped last spring. Love's publicist, Pat Kingsley, confirmed her injury, but could not speak to whether Love would depart from "Ghosts."
Reuters/Variety
Sent in by Bill Myers

The Mouth of Madness Mailing List was treated to a recent script review of GOM:

Script Asylum: Ghosts of Mars
Get all the details on this upcoming horror/sci-fi flick from director John
Carpenter.
July 17, 2000

Stick to the creepy thing you do so well, and stop it with the action already. Why does John Carpenter's The Thing kick so much ass? Well, for one, the set up is near perfect when you're talking 'bout the suspense/sci-fi genres. MacReady and his gang are stationed at the North Pole, doing their thing in
desolation, when a dog comes out of nowhere being chased by a chopper full of gun-toting strangers. So the protagonists kill the perceived aggressors,
preserving the life of the stray mutt that's now become part of their compound. It's hard to know what kind of threat this puppy holds, and watching the animal's terrifying progression is what really gets the suspense cooking. Unfortunately, with his latest script Ghosts of Mars, Carpenter seems to be sacrificing the slow and focused build-up that has marked his stronger films (The Thing, The Fog, Christine, Halloween) for quick build-up action a la Vampires. Which is a shame, cuz the concept behind this one has the potential to be off the hook in a creepy-Carpenter kind of way.
A little over a year ago, the studios were in a race to put out some Mars flicks. Well, Mission to Mars plain stank. We're hoping Red Planet produces, and the trailer looks pretty ill (Carrie Ann Moss, baby!). Carpenter (as expected) is taking more of the horror/sci-fi approach to his Mars project. Which is probably a good thing. Who really fricking cares about a by-the-books Mars flick at this point? We'd much rather see The Martian Chronicles than any of the above, but that ain't gonna happen. If it happens the Hollywood way we have a feeling that it'll be lame. Any solid directors out there who are bigtime Bradbury heads?

Not as creepy as The Thing. Ghosts of Mars is a cross between Alien, The Thing, and Pitch Black. The flick takes place on Mars (duh) in a future where a large population of humans inhabit scattered colonies on the red planet. Conveniently, the colonies don't keep up much contact between each other. But when a distress signal goes out, it's the over-zealous, underestimating military team to the rescue (haven't seen that before). In the opening, the lead character Melanie (Courtney Love) is pulled off a runaway train, having been beaten and chained in a room. The rest of the flick takes place as Melanie recounts her experiences at the mining colony Shining Canyon. And the worst part is that the ghosts don't manifest themselves as ghosts. They possess people who turn into psycho-loonies, so for all intensive purposes they could just as well be taken over by aliens. Not much of a ghost story. If this one is
starting to sound like a run-of-the-mill alien movie, that's because it is in the screenplay.

Carpenter and writing partner Larry Sulkis have nailed some of the characters really well. Courtney Love is a perfect fit for the lead, Melanie: Rebellious, brash, at times violent, and super-annoying. If you dug Riddick in Pitch Black, you're sure to love Desolation Williams. While this convict badass has some brutal moments and sharp dialogue, he's basically yet another bad guy who's really the good guy that's been misunderstood by the system (a sympathetic character who's killed a couple dozen people). The visual elements of the script are fairly solid with sweet colony description, hot air balloons whipping through sandstorms, and the baddie thugs vividly depicted as pierced and self-mutilated primal warriors. The look of the flick will be great, but the story is more of the same old, feebly attempting to incorporate elements of infighting amongst the protagonists. While that technique added layers of goodness to The Thing, in Ghosts the interpersonal conflict seems too put-on.

Not even as creepy as The Fog.The mystery revelation comes too soon (about page 50). And rather than build the whole ghost element, Carpenter has chosen to dive headlong into rambunctious, over-the-top action. Which is a crying shame, cuz the man has really tweaked the suspense factor brilliantly in certain films of his career. Don't expect a slow creeper or an original take, this one's a by-the-numbers sci-fi/action flick with some interesting characters and locales. Ghosts of Mars will probably line up right inbetween Vampires and Escape from LA in the JC archive.

Get a peek at an actress stranded on the red planet when Clea Duvall talks Ghosts of Mars. Want more script reviews? Wander further inside the Script Asylum. -- Chris Bernier wishes this one could have just been a ghost flick

Not exactly favourable, but I can seem some glimmers of hope in there. Where the reviewer sees cliche (the band of protagonists, in fighting) I see JC exercising his love of Hawks movies again. As for too much action? One of JCs greatest skills is his fantastic portrayal of action on the screen. Even the detractors of EFLA recognised the superb direction of the attack on the magic kingdom. The main thing to keep in mind though is that JC is not an on-paper director (have you ever read the script to Halloween?). His strength is in the visuals and I think GOM has the potential to really be something great.

April 18th 2000 GOM is a GO! Thanks to everyone for keeping up the flow of news to this mailbox over the last few weeks. All of the news is appreciated, keep it coming. Today's update is a condensed version of all this news to let the core information flow - as always the Ginger Jabba has the main scoop (www.aint-it-cool-news.com)

This news just flew across my desk from Harry Knowles...
John Carpenter's GHOSTS OF MARS greenlit and moving forward! For quite some time there was some doubt whether or not this project would
be moving forward because of weirdo studio head bumping mating rituals, but it seems that all of that is behind us now. When John Carpenter was down here in Austin, he seemed to be real iffy about the project and was looking to possibly make an independently produced (by him) shot on Digital movie that he would control 100%. While I'm still hoping that he'll do that, I'm very excited about GHOSTS OF MARS. Now, I know the casting on this sounds weird as hell, but folks... Once you have read the script, the casting makes sense. No... really it does.
Ice Cube is in as Desolation, he's the Plisskin/Mad Max/John Voight from RUNAWAY TRAIN type of character. One of those... too mean to live types. Then there is Jason Statham as Jericho... Once again, you'll just have to see him in the role. You might remember Jason as Bacon in LOCK, STOCK AND TWO SMOKING BARRELS. He has a ton of really cool lines in the latest draft of the script.
Then there is Courtney Love. Now I know there is this really vocal anti-Courtney Love thing in the world, but she really is right for this
character, in that same sort of odd way that Roddy Piper was balls on perfect for THEY LIVE. Courtney's character is a no-nonsense cop, not the
head screw, just one of the grunts... She's been on the job for a while, but keeps being passed over for promotion because... well, she isn't a
lesbian. In this future, Women Rule and men are lowly dogs. She's a breeder, which means... she'll bare children and sleep with man. But as a
result she's treated as a lessor.
To me with all the intense situations and scary Ghost stuff... it's this aspect that really makes me smile. This is a hardcore John Carpenter
written scifi-action-horror film set in a female dominated society. (ahem... now do you understand why there were political problems?) As usual
John is exploring alot more than... just action. Pre-Production on GHOSTS OF MARS started today. Shooting will begin on August 1st... at least that's what some folks doing some work on it tell me. So, hang on... this is the first 100% John Carpenter film we've seen in a while.

Sincerely,
Matthew Giaquinto

Thanks to Matt for letting me know about that story. I'm really excited about this one - cool cast, cool premise and chance for JC to really flex those action-set-piece muscles again.

from dark horizons:
Ghosts of Mars: Actor/rapper Ice Cube had a short interview with MTV recently and briefly touched upon his next work - the new John Carpenter
sci-fi film. Cube says his role is that of an outlaw, one being transferred between prisons when en route the police vehicle carrying him is attacked by
creatures unearthed on the red planet. Courteney Love fits in somewhere (no she's not one of the creatures, rather a federal marshal stationed on Mars), but anyway the pair will star in the flick which begins filming soon. Thanks to 'Kirk' & 'Shade'.

Thanks to Tom Alaerts for pointing out that bit of info

You may have already heard, but the Hollywood Reporter confirmed today that Courtney Love is in final negotiations to appear in "Ghosts of Mars" along with Ice Cube.  It looks like the film is gonna be released through Sony's subdivision "Screen Gems" (who previously released "Arlington Road" and Toback's "Black & White" here in the states). Best regards, Jared

Feb 18th 2000

Problems with Ghosts?

Coming Atrractions has a page following GOM developments (as does this site here) and have reported an interesting rumour:

February 18, 2000... A scooper just told us that plans for Carpenter's next film, Ghosts of Mars, may have taken a significant turn for the worst. This story allegedly came from editor Ed Warschilka, who's worked on such Carpenter films as Big Trouble in Little China, Escape From L.A. and Vampires. According to our scooper, Warschilka told them he was planning on working again with Carpenter on Ghosts of Mars but the financing for the movie has disappeared. However, the scooper surmises it won't be long before Carpenter can find new backers for the film. [Name withheld.]

Not very good news, hopefully all sources will help out and get some solid info on this.

February 3^rd 2000 It has been awhile but there is finally an update:

Interview with Larry Sulkis!

Ask who that is and it's obvious you havn't been paying attention to the GOM (which seems to be its official web acronym) info. Sulkis is credited as the co-writer of the screenplay. He has worked with JC on various things (just check out the IMDB to see what), most memorably responsible for directing the 'we are transmitting…' scenes of They Live. I hope this makes up a little for the lack of recent updates.

When did you and JC develop this script?

John contacted me in early June of 1999. We met at the Cat'n'Fiddle on Sunset and as I sipped a pint of Fuller's ESB I read a treatment he'd written outlining the premise of Ghosts of Mars and a brief description of the main characters. He asked if I would be interested in co-writing it with him. It looked to be an entertaining project and I agreed on the spot. I then went home and pondered it for a few days when --to all of our amazement-- inspiration struck and I wrote an entire 1st draft in one week. We then spent the next three months rewriting and carefully recrafting the work into something we felt completely happy with.

Can you give me a very brief (no spoilers) outline of the plot?

The story takes place some 175 years in the future in a dusty frontier mining town on Mars. A small squad of police have been sent to transfer an extremely dangerous criminal, Desolation Williams, back to the main administrative Martian city, Chryse. Our heroine, Melanie, is second in command of this squad. What no one realizes is that mining operations have uncovered --and disturbed-- the ruins of an ancient Martian civilization and unleashed a kind of spiritual doomsday defense system that will relentlessly destroy any alien presence (in this case, Earthlings) inhabiting Mars. When the cops arrive at this remote outpost, no one but the criminals locked away in the local jail have survived... And the "Martian Ghosts" are determined not to let them get away.

I see you have worked with JC before (on They Live and Bodybags), how did you get into this working relationship with him?

I met John on They Live. I had been friends with Sandy since the mid-70s and while discussing another script of mine, she asked me if I could help them out with certain aspects of the They Live production. I had been writing screenplays and directing/producing documentaries for Showtime, MTV, etc. I first directed the little video clips that appear on the television sets during They Live that are interrupted by the pirate broadcasts. I then produced the "Electronic Press Kit" (Behind the scenes, making of... whatever you want to call them) videos for the feature's promotion and then made the theatrical trailer and all the TV & radio advertising for They Live. (& am proud to say we opened the film at #1.) It was nice to add John's friendship to Sandy's. We worked together again on other occasions, sometimes with me writing scripts for them: Captain Blood (at Universal), Dark Flame (at Spelling), Village of the Damned (at Universal again --though uncredited, I wrote the last three drafts, including the shooting script) and now, in our first collaborative effort, Ghosts... I directed John in Body Bags and did the theatrical trailer. And I produced EPKs for Memoirs of an Invisible Man, and Vampires. So it's been a long and varied working relationship with John and Sandy and one that I thoroughly enjoy.

What is it like to work with JC?

John is a master of his craft, --extremely knowledgable about film history and technique. Yet writing with him, I felt no master/apprentice barrier or hierarchy. He is gracious in hearing criticism and open to others' ideas. My first draft was a very linear action story. The plot began at A and roared headlong toward Z. John took that structure and shattered it, then began piecing all its elements back together in a puzzle that withheld secrets and created mysteries... slowly unraveling events kept hidden from Melanie and the audience. He opened up the dialog and let it breathe, allowing time for suspense and emotion to build... and of course, it was a privilege to get to write a script from the director's perspective right from the start; to be able to hear how John would block a scene or how he felt an actor would react to a certain line... But most of all. it was just plain fun. We would meet most afternoons for several coffee fueled hours and discuss sticking points or things we felt weren't working and solve those problems together. Then we would retreat to our writing dens -- he to his typewriter, me to my computer -- and write our assigned scenes, then exchange them and go over it all again. Sandy would read it over and chime in with suggestions when she felt we were off the mark with our female protagonists' dialog. We kept recrafting it, trying to get inside our characters' skulls, imagining the desperate, desolate life of that remote frontier outpost in the future as the unthinkable becomes too real.

yours, Larry Sulkis

Thank you Larry for the interview.

Harry's Take on GOM

As always, that Harry of AICN is right in there with the coolest people and as such has had some amazing inside info on GOM

Hey folks, Harry here. First off, let me show ya this letter I got from Uncapie today. I think, this is something I'm going to do from time to time. And that's to feature a question, and then answer it for you fans. I don't have time to answer every question... Only the ones that make me feel like answering. So here we go... Harry, I was talking to a reliable source today about John Carpenter's "Ghost Of Mars". The basic story is "Assault On Precinct 13" on the red planet. KNB ill be doing the effects on it with filming to being a few months down the road. Can't Carpenter come up with a better idea than this? Chief Uncapie has spoken. Alright... So what question am I answering? "CAN'T CARPENTER COME UP WITH A BETTER IDEA THAN THIS?" The answer is YES. While I haven't read the script, I have been lucky enough in life to have spent some time with John Carpenter and his lovely wife and producer, Sandy King in their home in Los Angeles. And, I have had conversations about GHOSTS OF MARS. Comparing ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13 with GHOSTS OF MARS is a bit like comparing... oh... let's say TANGO AND CASH and BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA. Assault took place in a single location, specifically a closed down Precinct Headquarters and dealt with the transferring of the a particularly dangerous criminal. A bunch of gang members attack the jail and the little group... well... if you haven't seen it, I don't want to spoil it for ya. BUT... it really is a great little siege film. Kinda like an urban Alamo type of thing. From what I gather about GHOSTS OF MARS is that... there is weird ass shit happening all over the place. There is a 'precinct-type' place where the characters are supposed to be holed up for a while and there is a dangerous criminal type. But that's about where the comparisons will end. From what I heard and saw... there's multiple cities, trains, hot-air balloon things, decapitations out the kazoo, ghosts and many other creepy thingees. The point is, this film doesn't stay in the jail. It's not just a siege movie. Now believe me, I've been begging for a script from John and Sandy... as well as working all my connections over at SONY, as well as the many agencies where the go out for actors. So far... They've done a damn good job of keeping it quiet.I do know that it looks like my head will be chopped off and put upon a pike in the film. I'm going to be headed out to KNB to have them use up all the plaster in the world to make a cast of my ENORMOUS head, so they can then use all the latex and rubber in the world to cast my head. John refers to this film as his ZULU movie. Somewhere down the line, someone made a vocal comparison of ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13 with GHOSTS OF MARS, but that's really not very accurate. There are some aspects that look kinda the same.... but this film will be far more violent, far more visually exciting... from the character descriptions I've heard... the make up of the group is very different... almost completely opposite from in ASSAULT. And then there's the bit about how it's not just set in a jail.The last thing I heard on the project was that they were looking at their female actresses at this point... but that nothing has really been locked in. And I do know that the scoop that Patrick at Coming Attractions posted about Courtney Love being approached was true, but it is not known if she accepted. Also, the MATRIX fight choreographer is not going to be doing the fights in GHOSTS OF MARS, Sandy told me that it'll be the guy that choreographed the fights in FIGHT CLUB, BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA and so on. I forget the gentleman's name right now. And... there ya go

Really cool, sounding better all the time! Now onto the roundup of all the things that have accumulated since last year!

GOM Release

Ok, too early to plan the release party but here is some good info

From: Matt Macy Giaquinto - According to the latest issue of Premier Magazine, John Carpenter's Ghosts of Mars will be distributed in the year 2000 by Screen Gems - a division of Sony. The good thing about this is that Carpenter can finish the picture without having to worry about distribution. If you remember, part of the problem that plagued Vampires was that it was completed in the end of 1997, but we all had to wait almost a full year to see it as the film had to find a distributor.

October 17th Ghosts of Mars That is the current title for the new JC film. It's great to know that JC is going back behind the camera again, shooting his own script. Fantastic stuff - the celebrations are evident with the news that Patrick Kerr has reopened his Films of John Carpenter site - so now you can all go along to his site and forget about mine now! It's cool to see the site back and it might encourage me to start updating a little more regularly, at least there should be plenty of news now, so I'd better get on with it:

Just read at ain't it cool (http://www.aint-it-cool-news.com/display.cgi?id=4536) that GHOSTS OF MARS had been financed by Columbia and is scheduled to start filming in March! - Patrick Kerr

Just thought you'd like to know that today's Hollywood Reporter on-line states that John Carpenter has signed a deal with Sony's genre label Screen Gems to begin production on "John Carpenter's Ghosts of Mars."

Here's the full blurb as it appeared today...

Screen Gems sees 'Ghosts' as first prod'n

"John Carpenter's Ghosts of Mars" will be the first project to go into production at Sony's niche label Screen Gems, sources said Thursday.  A sci-fi thriller set some 200 years in the future, "Ghosts of Mars" is a story of human colonists on Mars who must be rescued after becoming possessed by vengeful Martian ghosts.  The screenplay was written by Carpenter and Larry Sulkis.  "Ghosts of Mars" comes on the heels of last year's successful Sony release of "John Carpenter's Vampires," which opened to $9.2 million, the biggest-ever opening for a Halloween weekend.- SW Carlson

"Marco" - It's true go to www.film.com and you will see in the news  section that john carpenter has a new movie called john carpenter's ghosts of mars in the works for the year 2000.

You can be sure that I shall get all the news up here as soon as it comes out.

October 12th The Official Update The following quote, that has surfaced in various places over the web, got my interest going (obviously!)

i was at the New Orleans Film and Video Festival today, and i got to meet Debra Hill! she was there promoting Crazy in Alabama and was on a panel of producers talking about how to get funding... after the panel was over i went up to her and told her how much i like her work with carpenter... she told me that she had lunch with him very recently and he has a new film in the works! a *remake* of Assault on Precinct 13 set on mars... called Ghost on Mars or something like that. i know this sounds like i'm bullshiting you, but that's what she said... has anyone else heard anything about a project like this??
shannon

so I decided to go straight to the source for confirmation. What I get was yet more evidence of the high regard JC and his team hold their fans in, basically full on answers to queries about the new projects and also answers to various questions that have been on the site for a while:

There is no Assault on Mars.  There will be, however, in the next two hours probably, news about the new film as soon as the deal becomes final.  There is a possible remake of Assault--as a different film--for some French guys, if they come up with the right deal, which we are also waiting on.  It would be set in Los Angeles, not Mars.  Someone has just combined the two things, I guess.  The Mars film will not be an outer space movie in the classical sense.  It is set on Mars itself. No space ships.  Think "Zulu" on Mars.  ;-)  I was selling this one at Cannes this year and we are probably closing the domestic deal today.  When it happens, I'll let you know.
Meanwhile, we are in the process of building a new, improved website--one that might not crash anyone's computer anymore.  It should be up in a couple of weeks.  What a pain in the ass they are!  I don't know how you keep doing it.

And I think that clears up a load of things. Most exciting, obviously, is the new movie. Fantastic news that really gets the appetite going. I'll keep you posted as I get more info.