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Christmas on Mars
Image:Unknown.jpg Christmas on Mars Theatrical Poster
Directed by	Wayne Coyne
Written by	Wayne Coyne
Starring	Steven Drozd Wayne Coyne Steve Burns
Music by	The Flaming Lips
Cinematography	Wayne Coyne
Editing by	Wayne Coyne
Distributed by	Warner Bros. (France) Warner Independent Pictures (US)
Country	United States
Language	English

Christmas on Mars is a forthcoming feature film from the Oklahoma psychedelic alternative rock band The Flaming Lips. It has been in development for six years. Filming was completed in October of 2005, and the film is scheduled to premiere in March 2008 at the South by Southwest film festival.^[1]. Image File history File links Gnome_globe_current_event. ... Image File history File links Crystal_Clear_app_aktion. ... Wayne Michael Coyne (born January 13, 1961[1]) is the lead singer, guitarist, and principal songwriter for the band The Flaming Lips. ... Wayne Michael Coyne (born January 13, 1961[1]) is the lead singer, guitarist, and principal songwriter for the band The Flaming Lips. ... Steven Drozd (born June 11, 1969, Houston, Texas) is a multi-instrumentalist and drummer for The Flaming Lips. ... Wayne Michael Coyne (born January 13, 1961[1]) is the lead singer, guitarist, and principal songwriter for the band The Flaming Lips. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... The Flaming Lips (formed in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma in 1983) are an American alternative rock band. ... Wayne Michael Coyne (born January 13, 1961[1]) is the lead singer, guitarist, and principal songwriter for the band The Flaming Lips. ... Wayne Michael Coyne (born January 13, 1961[1]) is the lead singer, guitarist, and principal songwriter for the band The Flaming Lips. ... “WB” redirects here. ... WIPs logo, which closely resembles half of the WB shield. ... Motto: (Out Of Many, One) (traditional) In God We Trust (1956 to date) Anthem: The Star-Spangled Banner Capital Washington D.C. Largest city New York City None at federal level (English de facto) Government Federal constitutional republic  - President George Walker Bush (R)  - Vice President Dick Cheney (R) Independence from... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... A reel of film, which predates digital cinematography. ... The Flaming Lips (formed in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma in 1983) are an American alternative rock band. ... Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... 2008 (MMVIII) will be a leap year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Downtown Austin, Texas, where SXSW is held each spring Bloc Party performing at Stubbs BBQ in 2007 Carrie Rodriguez, a SXSW 2007 performer Morrissey at SXSW 2006 South by Southwest (SXSW) is a set of interactive, film, and music festivals and conferences that have taken place every spring in...

Cast

• Steven Drozd as Major Syrtis
• Wayne Coyne as The Martian
• Steve Burns as Astronaut #1
• Scott Booker as Psychiatrist
• Isaac Brock
• Adam Goldberg as Mars Psychiatrist
• Elijah Wood
• Fred Armisen

According to the band's website, Christmas on Mars is a film "written and directed by Flaming Lips frontman Wayne Coyne, and featuring all of the band and many of their associates as actors (including singer-songwriter and former host of Blue's Clues Steve Burns, The Hebrew Hammer star Adam Goldberg, Isaac Brock of Modest Mouse, and Fred Armisen of Saturday Night Live fame). Steven Drozd (born June 11, 1969, Houston, Texas) is a multi-instrumentalist and drummer for The Flaming Lips. ... Wayne Michael Coyne (born January 13, 1961[1]) is the lead singer, guitarist, and principal songwriter for the band The Flaming Lips. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... The Flaming Lips (formed in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma in 1983) are a Grammy-award winning[1] American alternative rock band. ... This article refers to the British general. ... For other persons named Adam Goldberg, see Adam Goldberg (disambiguation). ... Elijah Jordan Wood (born January 28, 1981) is an American actor. ... Fred Armisen (born December 4, 1966) is an American musician, comedian, and actor, known for his work as a castmember on Saturday Night Live. ... Wayne Michael Coyne (born January 13, 1961[1]) is the lead singer, guitarist, and principal songwriter for the band The Flaming Lips. ... The term singer-songwriter refers to performers who both write and sing their own material. ... Blues Clues is a childrens show about a dog named Blue. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... DVD cover The Hebrew Hammer is a film that was released in 2003. ... For other persons named Adam Goldberg, see Adam Goldberg (disambiguation). ... Isaac Brock (born on July 9, 1975 in Issaquah, Washington) is the lead singer, guitarist, and songwriter for the American indie rock band Modest Mouse, as well as his side project band, Ugly Casanova. ... Template:Lyricwiki Modest Mouse is an American indie rock band. ... Fred Armisen (born December 4, 1966) is an American musician, comedian, and actor, known for his work as a castmember on Saturday Night Live. ... This article is about the American television series. ...

Story

The film tells the story of the experiences of Major Syrtis (The Flaming Lips' multi-instrumentalist Steven Drozd) during the first Christmas on a newly-colonized Mars. Coyne has described the film as "Maybe Eraserhead or Dead Man crossed with some kind of fantasy and space aspects, like The Wizard of Oz and maybe A Space Odyssey, except done without real actors or money, and set at Christmas-time. The story that unfolds is intended to hint at childlike magic within a tragic and realistic situation." Steven Drozd (born June 11, 1969, Houston, Texas) is a multi-instrumentalist and drummer for The Flaming Lips. ... For other uses, see Christmas (disambiguation). ... Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun in the solar system, named after the Roman god of war (the counterpart of the Greek Ares), on account of its blood red color as viewed in the night sky. ... Eraserhead (released in France as The Labyrinth Man) is a 1977 surrealist-horror film written and directed by David Lynch. ... Dead Man is a 1995 film written and directed by Jim Jarmusch. ... The Wizard of Oz is a 1939 musical fantasy film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. ...

Coyne elaborated to Rolling Stone magazine: "It's sometime in the future, Mars has been sort of conquered and there's a space station on it but the space program has gone into decline and these people are kind of stuck up there. They're in the process of converting the spaceships that took them there into a place to live in and that process doesn't go too smoothly. The whole thing ends up very dilapidated, very un-futuristic, un-'2001'. There's an element of confidence among the scientists, but the overall view is that things seem kind of doomed."

The main character, Major Syrtis (played by Steven Drozd, the band's multi-instrumentalist and arranger/composer), is trying to organise a Christmas pageant to celebrate the birth of the first colonist baby. Coyne explains that this birth is also special for other reasons, "The hype they've added to this Mars mission is that this beautiful woman is giving birth to this sort of artificial impregnation from this bubble that she wears on her stomach, which is the way infants are gonna be born in the future. It's all scientifically timed so she gives birth to this baby the second it hits midnight on Christmas. So it's symbolically the beginning of a new civilization. But instead of being born from religious ideas it's born from a science idea."

Wayne further elaborated to MTV.com: "Against a background of descending madness, Major Syrtis is trying to use the pageant to provide hope amongst the colonists, and the film tells the story of his struggle. Speaking to mtv.com, Coyne said, "You see his humiliation and his self-doubt because there are all these haphazard things that keep getting in the way of his determination to celebrate this first Christmas on Mars. A lot of the people are committing suicide, and one of them is this sort of Santa Claus that's supposed to preside over this big celebration. He dies right at the beginning and this presents Steven's character with several problems." Fortunately, Major Syrtis finds an unlikely ally in Coyne's strange and mysterious character, "I'm playing this Martian that lands, but the Martian isn't really perceived as a Martian. People just sort of think he's another crazy guy who's flipped and turned himself green. They can't find a quick replacement for Santa so they just use this Martian guy. So the Martian guy becomes the Martian and Santa Claus at the same time."

Filming

At the beginning of 2002, over 20 minutes of edited film were ready, with music and preliminary sound effects also completed for these scenes. The movie is being shot on 16mm film, with most of the sets based in Wayne's Oklahoma City house. Other scenes have been filmed in and around OKC, using locations such as old industrial facilities. Snapshots from some of the actual shooting can be found at the Hellfire website, including pictures of the band in costume. Knowledge of character names is so far scant, except for Drozd's 'Major Syrtis', Coyne as 'the Martian', and a bit part, 'Petor 6', played by one of the film crew. It is known that Michael Ivins plays an engineer, while the band's manager (Scott Booker) is the colony's busy psychiatrist. Claims of typecasting are said to be wide of the mark. Much more filming is due to be carried out in 2002, and we'll have some more pictures here in due course - further to the snapshots on the photos page. Whether we'll say much more about the story remains to be seen, as we wouldn't want to undermine any surprises!

Plans for Release

The band has detailed its unconventional plans for Christmas on Mars on its release through Warner distribution; the movie will be screened at special concerts by The Flaming Lips, creating a unique sensory experience with the movie acting as a backdrop to the live music. “WB” redirects here. ...

It is not intended for 'Christmas on Mars' to be released at conventional movie theaters. Instead, a DVD release will be preceeded by a number of screenings at rock venues. In true Flaming Lips style, the plan is to use more than the standard movie screening equipment and turn each screening into 'a big visceral event'. Speaking to mtv.com, Wayne has explained, "We want to show the movie with a mega-sound system and snow machines and just make it like a bigger event than what has become the typical movie-going experience. I'm hoping that people can watch this movie while they drink beer, smoke cigarettes, and have a good time." It is expected that the DVD will be released by Warner Bros, and that it will include a number of bonus features. These will include out-takes, a score-only audio track, probably all of the band's promotional videos for Warner Bros, and possibly (director of photography) Bradley Beesley's documentary short, 'The Flaming Lips Have Landed'.

The Flaming Lips are eyeing next March's South by Southwest film festival for the release of their long-forthcoming feature film, Christmas on Mars, according to a October 2007 Billboard.com interview with frontman Wayne Coyne: "It is coming. In fact, it's better than ever. Because it's taken so long, we've become better filmmakers. There's better computer effects. I think it will be much better," Coyne said. Come to think of it, it makes sense that the Lips would need to build UFOs before traveling to Mars.

After Christmas on Mars' SXSW premiere, Coyne mentioned that the band plans to take the film on a tour of some sort. "I want the Flaming Lips audience to shape this. It'll be like our live show, which evolves as it goes. We'll show it to the audience and let them talk out there on message boards, and then maybe we'll take that and go back and change it and put it out there again and see what they think. It'll be a different experience than sitting at home and watching a DVD, for sure. I don't know if a lot of bands can do that, but the Flaming Lips sure can."

As of October 2007, the film is in the final editing stage. The band is also transferring it to HD and adding "in-depth special effects."

The film is scheduled to premiere in March 2008 at the South by Southwest film festival. 2008 (MMVIII) will be a leap year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Downtown Austin, Texas, where SXSW is held each spring Bloc Party performing at Stubbs BBQ in 2007 Carrie Rodriguez, a SXSW 2007 performer Morrissey at SXSW 2006 South by Southwest (SXSW) is a set of interactive, film, and music festivals and conferences that have taken place every spring in...

Trailer

A trailer for Christmas on Mars was first made available on the band's Fight Test EP, and can now be found along with movie information on The Flaming Lips' own website. Fight Test (US Version) is an EP by The Flaming Lips, released on Warner Records in 2003, shortly after the release of Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots that same year. ... // Extended play (EP) is the name typically given to vinyl records or CDs which contain more than one single but are too short to qualify as albums. ...

Soundtrack

Two tracks from the forthcoming movie soundtrack, "Protonilus Death March" and "Syrtis Major" were released as a 5000-only picture-disc EP late in 2004, available only through the band's online store in conjunction with the purchase of their limited-edition pictorial biography Waking Up With a Placebo Headwound. "Syrtis Major" and another soundtrack cut, "Xanthe Terra", were also released as B-sides to the 2-part European single release of "Do You Realize??" These songs are both entirely instrumental, in a similar style to acclaimed Lips instrumentals such as the Grammy-winning Approaching Pavonis Mons by Balloon (Utopia Planitia). Year 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Approaching Pavonis Mons by Balloon (Utopia Planitia) is the eleventh and final track of the Flaming Lips 2002 album Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots. ...

The Flaming Lips (formed in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma in 1983) are an American alternative rock band. ... Wayne Michael Coyne (born January 13, 1961[1]) is the lead singer, guitarist, and principal songwriter for the band The Flaming Lips. ... Michael Ivins (born March 17, 1963 in Omaha, Nebraska) is the bassist for The Flaming Lips. ... Steven Drozd (born June 11, 1969, Houston, Texas) is a multi-instrumentalist and drummer for The Flaming Lips. ... Clifton Thomas Scurlock[1] (born June 16, 1973) is the current drummer for the alternative rock band The Flaming Lips. ... Mark Coyne in the 1980s Mark Coyne is an American musician and one of the original members of the rock band, The Flaming Lips. ... Jonathan Donahue (born May 6, 1966) is an American rock musician. ... Ronald Jones(born 1970?) was a guitarist in the Oklahoma indie-rock band The Flaming Lips from 1991 to 1996. ... // * She Dont Use Jelly also charted #9 on the Modern Rock Tracks chart. ... Hear It Is is The Flaming Lips debut album. ... Oh My Gawd!!! is The Flaming Lips second album on Restless Records. ... Telepathic Surgery is an album by The Flaming Lips, released in 1989 (see 1989 in music). ... In a Priest Driven Ambulance is an album by The Flaming Lips, released in 1990 (see 1990 in music). ... Hit to Death in the Future Head is The Flaming Lips fifth album and their debut album on Warner Bros. ... Transmissions from the Satellite Heart is The Flaming Lips sixth album, released in 1993 (see 1993 in music). ... Clouds Taste Metallic is the seventh album by the band The Flaming Lips released on September 19, 1995. ... Zaireeka is the title of the eighth studio album by the alternative rock band The Flaming Lips. ... The Soft Bulletin is the ninth album released by The Flaming Lips on May 17, 1999 (see 1999 in music) in the UK, with a US release following on June 22, 1999. ... Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots is the tenth album by The Flaming Lips, released on July 16, 2002 and characterized by synthesizer-driven, psychedelic-tinged alternative rock compositions. ... At War with the Mystics is the title of the eleventh album by the Flaming Lips. ... The Flaming Lips (EP) is the debut release by American rock group The Flaming Lips it was released in 1984. ... Yeah, I Know Its A Drag. ... Due to High Expectations. ... The Southern Oklahoma Cosmic Trigger Contest is a soundtrack by The Flaming Lips to the Bradley Beesley fishing documentary Okie Noodling, featuring three country-tinged songs not found elsewhere, two of which are instrumentals. ... Fight Test (US Version) is an EP by The Flaming Lips, released on Warner Records in 2003, shortly after the release of Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots that same year. ... Ego Tripping at the Gates of Hell is an EP by The Flaming Lips, released on Warner Bros. ... It Overtakes Me (extended title: It Overtakes Me / The Stars Are So Big. ... A Collection of Songs Representing an Enthusiasm for Recording. ... Finally the Punk Rockers Are Taking Acid is a compilation album by The Flaming Lips, collecting their first three albums with unreleased material and demo recordings. ... The Day They Shot a Hole in the Jesus Egg (subtitled The Priest Driven Ambulance Album, Demos, and Outtakes, 1989-1991) is a 2xCD compilation of material by The Flaming Lips released by Restless Records in late 2002. ... Shambolic Birth and Early Life Of is a Promo compilation released in 2002. ... iTunes Originals – The Flaming Lips is an iTunes Originals album release from The Flaming Lips, released on July 3, 2007, that consists of live tracks, previously released studio tracks, and interview tracks of Wayne Coyne. ... She Don’t Use Jelly is a single off of The Flaming Lips album Transmissions from the Satellite Heart that was relased in 1993. ... Do You Realize?? is the ninth track and first single off the Flaming Lips 2002 album Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots. ... Fight Test (US Version) is an EP by The Flaming Lips, released on Warner Records in 2003, shortly after the release of Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots that same year. ... In the UK released September 15, 2003 by Virgin Records CD CHEMSD18 The Golden Path Nude Night The Golden Path (Ewan Pearson Extended Vocal) DVD CHEMSDVD18 The Golden Path (Video) The Golden Path (Edit) Dexters International Scribble Mix The Golden Path (Ewans Rave Hell Dub) 12 CHEMST18 The... The W.A.N.D. (The Will Always Negates Defeat) is a song by The Flaming Lips from their 2006 album At War With the Mystics. ... Alternative covers Maxi-CD single cover. ... Fearless Freaks is a 2005 documentary chronicling the alternative rock band The Flaming Lips. ... VOID (Video Overview In Deceleration) is a 5. ... Dave Fridmann is an American musician and record producer. ...

External links

• Page on FlamingLips.com
• Christmas on Mars page at IMDb