Movie buzz: 'John Carter,' 'Coriolanus,' Gold Coast film festival

WHO Taylor Kitsch

THE MOVIE "John Carter"

THE DEAL Disney is drumming up publicity for this sci-fi-adventure film, which is based on a series of Edgar Rice Burroughs novels and marks the live-action debut of director Andrew Stanton ("WALL-E"). Kitsch ("Friday Night Lights") plays the title role, a Civil War hero who travels to Mars and meets the towering, green-skinned alien Tars Tarkas (Willem Dafoe) and the rather better-looking princess Dejah Thoris (Lynn Collins, "X-Men Origins: Wolverine"). Stanton and the three stars appeared before a small audience in Manhattan earlier this week to show unfinished clips of the film, which mixes live action and computer-generated characters. The release date is March 9.

THE EVENT The Gold Coast International Film Festival

THE DEAL The estimated attendance of 15,000 at the festival's June debut was apparently good enough to merit a second installment. According to organizers, next year's Gold Coast festival will run May 2-6 with Somi L. Roy taking over directing duties from Sean McPhillips, who continues as chief programmer. Roy, who was curator at large for last year's Gold Coast festival, has done similar work for the Whitney Museum, the International Film Festival of India and The Asia Society. The Gold Coast festival, launched through the Great Neck Arts Center, will once again take place in North Hempstead, Great Neck, Manhasset, Roslyn and Port Washington.

WHO Ralph Fiennes

THE MOVIE "Coriolanus"

THE DEAL The British Film Institute will award a fellowship, its highest honor, to Ralph Fiennes, whose directing debut -- an adaptation of a Shakespeare tragedy -- appears to be gaining more Oscar buzz. (David Cronenberg, director of the upcoming thriller "A Dangerous Method," will receive a BFI fellowship as well.) The BFI announced its short list of the year's best films, several of which will screen at next week's Hamptons International Film Festival. They include "We Need to Talk About Kevin," starring Tilda Swinton as the mother of a young murderer, and "The Artist," a new black-and-white silent film from France. "Coriolanus," due in theaters Dec. 2, also plays at the festival. The schedule is at hamptonsfilmfest.org.