Walt Disney has released the first teaser trailer for John Carter, based on the pulp hero created by Edgar Rice Burroughs (Tarzan). The character has until now been best known as "John Carter of Mars," but Disney has simplified the name in the interest of launching a franchise - that's right, it's already on track to be a trilogy.

John Carter will be directed by Andrew Stanton (Wall-E, Finding Nemo) and is scheduled for release on March 9, 2012. Here's the official synopsis:

The film 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 of epic proportions amongst the inhabitants of the planet, including Tars Tarkas (Willem Dafoe ) and the captivating Princess Dejah Thoris (Lynn Collins ). In a world on the brink of collapse, Carter rediscovers his humanity when he realizes that the survival of [the Martian civilization] Barsoom and its people rests in his hands.