James Purefoy, Mark Strong, and Thomas Haden Church have joined the cast of Andrew Stanton’s adaptation of Edgar Rice Burroughs’ John Carter of Mars.  Taylor Kitsch and Lynne Collins are starring in the science fiction/fantasy adventure about a Civil War veteran who suddenly finds himself on Mars in the midst of a major conflict between the planet’s warring kingdoms.  Church, Purefoy, and Strong have been added to a strong cast that also includes Willem Dafoe (see “Willem Dafoe Joins John Carter”), Samantha Morton, Dominic West, and Polly Walker (see “John Carter Gets 3”).  Production on the film is slated to begin in early 2010.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Purefoy, who was brilliant as Marc Anthony in HBO’s Rome, will portray Kantos Kan, the captain of the Kingdom of Helium’s flagship, the Xavarian.  Strong, who plays the villain in the new Sherlock Holmes movie, will be Matai Shang, the godlike ruler of the Thems in John Carter, while Church (Sideways, Spider-Man 3) takes on the key role of the ambitious Thark warrior Tal Hajus.