I’ll use this week’s opening paragraph to offer a bit of foreshadowing. There’s a great chance that I’m going to be talking about 21 Jump Street here next week. Now, I’ll admit, I’ve never been one to laud the work of Channing Tatum. For the first time ever, though, I’m going into a film with high expectations for his performance. I think that everything I’ve seen of the film thus far looks terrific and Matt’s review and this NSFW extended trailer are just icing on the cake at this point.

On tap in this week’s “Top 5″ is a plethora of John Carter coverage including interviews with Taylor Kitsch, Andrew Stanton and more, a video blog recap of Topher Grace‘s Star Wars prequels edit, new images and a new trailer for The Cabin in the Woods, Silent House interviews with Elizabeth Olsen and co-directors Chris Kentis and Laura Lau, and the first image of Johnny Depp and Armie Hammer in The Lone Ranger. Per usual, a brief recap and link to each await after the jump.

While it’s always great to talk with actors, if you want to hear why certain key decisions were made, or what was the most difficult technical sequence, you’ve got to talk with the producer.  After all, while an actor might have a great behind the scenes story, the producer can give you a lot more details.

The other week, Disney held a big press junket in Arizona, and I landed an exclusive video interview with John Carter producer Jim Morris.  During our extended conversation we talked about how the movie doesn’t talk down to the audience, how they improved the shortcomings of the novel, his thoughts on film vs. digital, are there Easter Eggs in the film, the issues with 3D brightness in different theaters, the pranks on set, what’s his favorite movie, actor and director, and so much more.  Hit the jump to watch.

Disney’s D23 Expo (the D standing in for Disney; 23 being a reference to the founding year of the studio – 1923) is kind of sorta like Comic Con, except more family friendly, cleaner, smaller, not as crowded, better smelling. And blue. I swear –it seemed like everything at the Expo was blue.  The seats in the auditorium, the rug on the show room floors, the gelled up lights, the screen – all blue. Hell – even the press packet folder was stripped in the color. At times, I felt like I was watching a latter day Derek Jarman flick.

The big highly anticipated panel of D23 – Walt Disney’s presentation (i.e. shilling) of their upcoming slate of films did not disappoint. So jam-packed was the three hour presentation, I’m forced to split my coverage into two parts. The first herein will focus on Disney’s upcoming live action films, whereas the second will cover their forthcoming animated films. Exclusive footage and clips were shown from the likes of The Muppets, John Carter (formerly of Mars), the just-started-shooting Oz: The Great and Powerful and, of course, The Avengers. For descriptions and impressions of the footage shown, hit the jump.  And for coverage on the live action portion of the panel, featuring Brave, Monsters University, Frankenweenie, and Wreck-It Ralph, click here.

“I’ve tried really hard to capture what I thought was universal and timeless about this book that is above and beyond the genre itself.” – Andrew Stanton

After hearing director Andrew Stanton (WALL·E, Finding Nemo) talk passionately for almost an hour about his first live-action movie, John Carter, in San Francisco last week, I’m convinced he’s the right person to finally bring Edgar Rice Burroughs celebrated novel to the big screen.  Not only is he a lifelong fan of the material, but his behind the scenes team is packed wall-to-wall with lifelong Burroughs fans.  In addition, while some filmmakers might cling to the source material and treat it like a Bible that they refuse to diverge from, Stanton is smart enough to know that some things that read great on the page won’t translate to the screen, though that doesn’t mean a Thark won’t still be a 9 to 10-foot tall green alien with 4 arms and tusks.

But let me back up a second.

With Disney releasing the first teaser trailer for John Carter later this week (it’ll be on Harry Potter and also online), today marks the very beginning of the Studio’s campaign to promote the movie.  To help make that happen, they invited a few online reporters to Northern California to watch some footage, the teaser trailer, and also speak with producer Jim Morris and director Andrew Stanton.  If you’ve been looking forward to John Carter, or you’re just a fan of Stanton and curious about his next movie, hit the jump for 20 things to know about the movie and an awesome interview (both audio and transcript) with the great director.

With production underway on director Andrew Stanton’s John Carter of Mars in London, Walt Disney has released the synopsis for the movie and also started a Facebook fan page for the film.  Here’s what they sent over:

From Academy Award-winning filmmaker Andrew Stanton (“Finding Nemo,” “WALL-E”), JOHN CARTER OF MARS brings this captivating hero to the big screen in a stunning adventure epic set on the wounded planet of Mars, a world inhabited by warrior tribes and exotic desert beings.  Based on the first of Edgar Rice Burroughs’ “Barsoom Series,” the film chronicles the journey of Civil-War veteran John Carter (TAYLOR KITSCH), who finds himself battling a new and mysterious war amidst a host of strange Martian inhabitants, including Tars Tarkas (WILLEM DAFOE) and Dejah Thoris (LYNN COLLINS).

As you might imagine, this is a huge film for us at Collider, so expect plenty of updates.  Hit the jump to read the rest of what Disney sent over: