Wall-E writer/director Andrew Stanton says his next project will be to write the film adaptation of John Carter of Mars for Pixar.

Stanton, who’s written other Pixar gems such as the Toy Story films, Finding Nemo, and Monsters Inc, said that Mars will be his next project, but did not say if he’s also direct.

There’s still no word whether John Carter of Mars will be animated or live action, but it was not part of the recent Disney/Pixar announcement of animated films they will release through 2012.

It was reported back in January 2007 that Disney had purchased the rights to Edgar Rice Burroughs‘ 11-volume John Carter of Mars series of books, and in June of 2007, that it would be a project for Pixar.

Burroughs, most famous for his creation of Tarzan, introduced the character of Civil War veteran John Carter in 1912 for the first story of the science fiction series, A Princess of Mars (later collected as a novel in 1917). While prospecting in Arizona in 1866, Carter takes shelter in a cave to avoid capture from hostile Apache Indians. While in the cave, he is mysteriously transported to Barsoom — Mars — where he’s captured by the green men of the planet.

Pixar has said that they plan on making John Carter of Mars into a film trilogy.

[Source: Pixar Blog]