In 2004 - when the project was still known as "A Princess of Mars" after the book on which it's based - Robert Rodriguez had originally been signed and announced as director and had begun pre-production early that year (it would have been his largest project to date with starting budget reported at $100 million). Rodriguez' most notbable contribution was to hire fantasy painter Frank Frazetta (whose most acclaimed works have included striking illustrations of Edgar Rice Burroughs novels, most notably the "John Carter on Mars" books) as production designer on the film. However, when Rodriguez resigned from the Directors' Guild of America (DGA) the same year (due to a dispute over his film Sin City (2005)), Paramount was forced to replace him. The studio has a long-standing arrangement with the DGA in which only the organization's members may direct Paramount films. He was replaced with director Kerry Conran, who had just finished Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (2004).