Director Jon Favreau confirmed to Sci-Fi Wire that Paramount has put the the long-gestating film adaptation of Edgar Rice Burroughs' John Carter of Mars on hold, pending the success of his next directing project, Iron Man, and the upcoming eleventh Star Trek film.

The eleven volumes of Burroughs' classic adventure series center around a Civil War veteran who takes shelter in a cave when pursued by a group of Apache Indians. Once inside, he suddenly finds himself transported to Mars, where he's taken prisoner by 12-foot-tall green men.

"It ain't happening now. Iron Man is my next film, and I hope that I get to do Carter as well. So that would, by definition, be not a priority for them" says Favreau who added that the issue isn't the quality of the work, but the timing of the project.

"The studio really liked it, but they've committed to doing the Star Trek franchise, to start that up again, with J.J. [Abrams], and they have other science-fiction properties, and they don't think the timing is right. And, hopefully, by continuing my relationship with them, by doing this Iron Man film, I'll leave the door wide open for Carter, which is a much more challenging property" he says.