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Filming of John Carter began in the UK on January 4, 2010. With growing public interest and multiple fan‐sites speculating on the production’s every move, the bulk of the movie’s stage work (along with exterior sequences set on Earth) was filmed at Shepperton Studios, London and Longcross Studios in Chelburn, over a four‐month period.
By late April, the production had moved to Utah for an additional 12‐weeks of shooting, with locations in Moab, Lake Powell, the Delta salt flats, Hanksville (where the US space agency, NASA, has tested robotic vehicles), and Big Water – a vast mesa of granulated shale and sandstone set before a towering ring of red cliffs which border the Grand Staircase National Monument.
Although John Carter has a huge amount of visual effects, the filmmakers wanted to use real locations and landscapes to film the action. Producer Jim Morris explains why: “As much as possible, we decided to shoot in actual locations and minimise the amount of digital set creation, so that the audience always feel like they are grounded in real places. We hope this will add an additional layer of authenticity that will heighten the believability and realism of the film.”
Article continues belowEven most of the CG cities and locations have been overlaid onto, or based on, actual location footage, to give Barsoom a unified – and unique – look and feel.
The story of John Carter has influenced films we all know and love, from Star Wars to Superman . To introduce you to the world of John Carter we’ve put together a full A-Z which will run all the way through to 9 March when John Carter hits cinemas, so make sure you check SFX every day until then.
Check out previous entries in our A-Z of John Carter
