A new John Carter trailer has been released and because we’ve not featured the film on Admit One before, I though an epic update was required for Disney’s latest, well, epic.

With John Carter, formerly titled John Carter of Mars, Disney are eager to get back to big-budget action after tasting success with 2010’s Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time. Despite a few flaws Prince of Persia was definitely a fun night out and showed that Disney still has what it takes to make films of this scale. And from what I’ve seen so far, John Carter looks to be more of the same.

I have to admit that until this I didn’t know much about John Carter the character. He first appears in the 1911 novel A Princess of Mars, written by Tarzan creator Edgar Rice Burroughs; a story set on a fictionalized version of Mars that the author dubbed ‘Barsoom’. Carter then went on to feature in multiple Barsoom novels and several comics, as well as cropping up in other literary works – including two appearances in Alan Moore’s The League of Extrodinary Gentlemen.

The film, based on A Princess of Mars, tells the story of war-weary, former military captain John Carter (Taylor Kitsch), who is inexplicably transported to Mars where he becomes reluctantly embroiled in a conflict amongst the inhabitants of the planet.

Academy Award–winning filmmaker Andrew Stanton (Finding Nemo, Wall-E) directs; following fellow Pixar/Disney alumni Brad Bird (Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protcol) into live-action filmmaking.

Here’s the first trailer:

This trailer perfectly introduces the film and shows us that we’re in for quite the epic (excuse the blatant overuse of the word). The special effects look great and it won’t lack for action. Taylor Kitsch looks the part and Willem Dafoe‘s CGI character, Tars Tarkas, looks excellent. I’m liking the soundtrack too, which hints that this film may be a little darker than the usual Disney fare. Are we seeing a return to The Black Hole days?

Here’s the second trailer:

This trailer is more high action, big budget, family friendly fun. It’s a shame that the darker tone has disappeared but this trailer is probably more representative of the actual film. Regardless, John Carter will definitely be one to watch on the big screen this summer.

Have these two trailers got you into John Carter? Or will you need to see more before committing yourself to saving Barsoom?

John Carter, who is inexplicably transported to mysterious and exotic planet Mars, becomes embroiled in a conflict of epic proportions and discovers that the survival of the planet and its people rests in his hands.

Directed by Andrew Stanton, John Carter stars Taylor Kitsch (Snakes on a Plane), Lynn Collins (23), Samantha Morton (River Queen), Mark Strong (Kick Ass), Ciaran Hinds (Munich), Dominic West (300), James Purefoy (Ironclad), Bryan Cranston (Drive), Polly Walker (Clash of the Titans), Daryl Sabara (Spy Kids), Thomas Haden Church (Sideways) and Willem Dafoe (Spiderman).

John Carter appears on our shores on March 8, 2012.