A soupcon of news this morning from the Walt Disney Company: they've announced dates for two of their most interesting 2012 releases, John Carter of Mars and Tim Burton's stop-motion Frankenweenie.
First up, the re-animated dog comedy that is Frankenweenie will hit screens on March 9, 2012. It's based on the 1984 short film that helped Burton start his career and land his first feature directing gig, and tells the story of a boy who resurrects his beloved pet to rather disastrous consequences. John August wrote the script for the 3D movie, and while the voice cast hasn't been announced yet we'd be amazed if most of Burton's regulars aren't in there somewhere.
Then on June 8, 2012, we'll get to see John Carter of Mars, which is all kinds of exciting. Starring Taylor Kitsch (pictured), Lynn Collins, Dominic West, Mark Strong, Willem Dafoe, Thomas Hayden Church, Ciaran Hinds, Polly Walker, Samantha Morton and James Purefoy, it's the story of an ER doctor a Civil War soldier mysteriously transported to the Red Planet, called Barsoom by the locals, and thrust into a war between the giant green Martians (e.g. Church, Dafoe, Morton) and the more human red Martians (e.g. Collins, West, Purefoy).
That's based on the books by Edgar Rice Burroughs, which are excellent reading as long as you like swordfights and dislike physics, and it's the live-action debut of director Andrew Stanton (Finding Nemo, Wall-E).
John Carter's release date leaves it sandwiched between Men In Black III at the end of that May and Star Trek's sequel later in June (assuming that starts work soon). It'll also put it the week before Pixar's Brave in the US, although Pixar often staggers their UK release date so that might not clash here.
As for Frankenweenie, it enters an animation-heavy month, competing with the earlier release of Dr Seuss' The Lorax and The Croods later in the month. Still, who'd bet against a zombie dog?