Depp as Mad Hatter!

A truly mad looking Johnny Depp cuddles a rabbit in this leaked image from Alice in Wonderland.

He's definitely got that silent movie actor-type look going on.

Photo courtesy of Johnny-Depp.org.

Hathaway Eager for "Alice"

A brief video clip from an interview with Anne Hathaway is online. Hathaway, who will be playing the White Queen, seems eager to begin filming with Tim Burton in Alice in Wonderland.

Lee, Rickman Enter "Wonderland" Set

Christopher Lee has been officially signed on to be in Alice in Wonderland. However, we do not know which role he will play yet.

But we do know who will play the hookah-smoking Caterpillar: Alan Rickman. The British actor worked with Tim Burton in Sweeney Todd, and now seems to have joined the Burton corral of regulars.


Filming has also begun in Culver City, California. Zack Roth (son of Joe Roth, who is producing the film) spoke of the soundstage: "The set itself was insane - the whole soundstage was draped in green-screen material, and there were dozens of motion capture cameras hanging overhead - it seemed like half the crew was there just to figure out how to make all the technologies work together."

Roth also mentioned screenwriter Linda Woolverton's adaptation of the original book and Johnny Depp's appearance:

"Luckily Johnny Depp was working that day, and I got to see him in character. He looked startlingly crazy - Burton’s take on the Mad Hatter was pretty wild. Linda Woolverton adapted the screenplay and I am told added some socio-political context to the film’s narrative."

Roth also reported that Michael Sheen will be playing the grinning Chesire Cat.

Glover in "Wonderland"

Crispin Glover has signed on for Alice in Wonderland. He will be playing the role of the Knave of Hearts.

This is the first time Tim Burton and Crispin Glover have collaborated (though Glover did a parody of Johnny Depp's performance as Willy Wonka in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory for the spoof flick Epic Movie).

Glover is no stranger to the performance capture technology which will be used in the film. The actor previously worked in the medium in Robert Zemeckis' Beowulf in 2007.

Elfman To Do "Wonderland"

Danny Elfman confirmed in Hollywood on October 17th that he will be working on Alice in Wonderland.

No official word on him composing the score for Frankenweenie yet, though.

Video courtesy of dlfreak (here's the original page).

Johnny Depp Eats His Hat

Tim Burton talks about his working with Johnny Depp, including their forthcoming collaboration in Alice in Wonderland:

"Nobody plays oddballs better than Johnny and he's loving playing this one.

"He doesn't like to be the same way twice. That's good. It always keeps it fresh and all. He likes the material we have here and he gets it.

"It's nice to have people involved that are fans of the material.

"He actually ate his hat the other day. No word of a lie. He just bit into the brim and chewed."

Depp will, appropriately, be playing the Mad Hatter.

Christopher Lee in "Alice in Wonderland"?

Film legend Christopher Lee is just one of many actors who are getting talked about at least a little bit among circles of fans regarding Tim Burton's forthcoming Alice in Wonderland. But a reliable source is hinting that Lee will indeed be in the film.

On the forum of the official website of Christopher Lee, the administrator (Lee's son-in-law), said this:

Mr. Lee will be in this movie but confidentiality agreements prevent me from disclosing his character. I guess we will have to all wait for an official announcement from Disney but I think you all know what the character will be anyway.


Lee has worked with Tim Burton three times before, originally on Sleepy Hollow in 1999, and then Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Corpse Bride in 2005.

He narrated the original poem of The Nightmare Before Christmas written by Burton on the recent DVD release of the film.

Lee was also set to be in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, until his sequence and thus his character was cut while planning in pre-production due to time constraints.

Fans of this deep-voiced thespian will likely rejoice if word of Lee's participation in Alice is true. Until then, we'll have to wait for Disney's official statement.

Tim Burton on "Alice in Wonderland," "Dark Shadows," and More!

Tim Burton took some time from shooting Alice in Wonderland to chat on the phone with Geoff Boucher of the Los Angeles Times. In the detailed and lengthy interview, Burton talks about Alice in Wonderland, the possibility of making a cinematic version of Dark Shadows, Johnny Depp, the latest addition to the "Batman" series, The Dark Knight, his upcoming Spike TV award, and much more.

Here is much of the interview (you can read the full article in its original context here):

I got Tim Burton on the phone the other day while he was on the set of Alice in Wonderland and I had to admit right off the bat that I was surprised that, with the filming just underway, he was taking the time to chat. "Yeah, well, me too," he said in his droll deadpan, and I wasn't sure whether to laugh or apologize and hang up. Then he let me off the hook. "Actually," he said in a sunnier voice, "we're just about to get going so we'll see how things go. Good, I hope."

I'm guessing things will go quite well for the 50-year-old filmmaker, who seems like the ideal auteur to bring Lewis Carroll's surreal 1865 classic "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" to the screen for a 21st century audience.

Young Aussie Mia Wasikowska will be Burton's Alice, while Johnny Depp is the inspired choice to play the Mad Hatter.

I told Burton that it seems as if Depp (who has other upcoming roles as an Old West hero, a pirate and a vampire) approaches his acting choices the same way a gleeful kid rummages through a trunk of dress-up clothes. The filmmaker let out a loud laugh. "It's true. Yeah we have a big dress-up clothes trunk here. We take it with us wherever we go."

More on a Depp and "Alice" in a moment, but first: This Saturday night Burton will be at the Scream 2008 Awards at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles, an event that in just its third year has become a signature event in sci-fi, comics, fantasy and, yes, horror, which was is its original mandate but is now just part of its genre cocktail. Burton is getting something called the Immortal Award and the Scream people boldly say that Burton has "contributed more to the genres of fantasy, sci-fi and horror than any other filmmaker of his generation," and there's certainly an argument to made that they are completely right. Burton's film visuals -- a sort of cemetery cabaret ethos -- have put him on an short list (Alfred Hitchcock, Martin Scorsese, Quentin Tarantino and Woody Allen spring to mind) of filmmakers who have such distinctive on-screen traits that they become evocative brand names to even casual filmgoers.

Burton will be making quite the dramatic entrance on Saturday (which you can see yourself when the show airs on Spike TV on Oct. 21) but he has a reputation as a fairly shy fellow. I asked him if he was looking forward to the trophy night or dreading it.

"I haven't been to the event but I've seen a bit on TV and it looks quite fun, you know, which in itself is different from most of these kind of shows. It looks like a nice big Halloween party, which is always good. It seems like all the type of people that nobody liked in school all getting together for a nice big party. A prom for the kids that didn't go to prom."

I told Burton that, for the night, the venue should change its sign to read 'The Geek Theatre' and he laughed again. "That's very good! I like that. I can't use, that, I can't take credit for that." He said he had a better way to sum up the geek and Goth crowd that will attend: "We're all the people on the yearbook pages devoted to "the most likely to disappear before the semester ends and no one will notice..."

Burton was making "Batman" films when the cape genre was still viewed as a campy ghetto by serious Hollywood creators, so it must be interesting for him to watch the fringe entertainment move so squarely to the center of mainstream film and to finally do so with respectable reviews. "It is a different time now, yes. It's strange to me. At the time back in school when everybody tortured you, it didn't seem quite the same. It wasn't fashionable then. It didn't seem viable and vibrant and accepted at the time. But sometimes those things take a while."

With "Alice in Wonderland," the defining pop-culture version of the story for modern American audiences is the 1954 Disney animated adaptation with its little blond Alice in her blue dress with white pinafore. That film was met with acidic reviews by the literary world (especially in England) for its bland and blunted vision of the Carroll classic. Burton is not a fan of the film, either, and, as with "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory," it appears his mission is to reclaim a children's classic, resharpen its edges and remind everyone that sapping the weirdness out of a tale often renders it flat and forgettable.

"It's a funny project. The story is obviously a classic with iconic images and ideas and thoughts. But with all the movie versions, well, I've just never seen one that really had any impact to me. It's always just a series of weird events. Every character is strange and she's just kind of wandering through all of the encounters as just a sort of observer. The goal is to try to make it an engaging movie where you get some of the psychology and kind of bring a freshness but also keep the classic nature of 'Alice.' And, you know, getting to do it in 3-D fits the material quite well. So I'm excited about making it a new version but also have the elements that people expect when they think of the material."

I told Burton he's right, the Disney movie is a meandering tour of a funhouse without any gripping story arc. "Yeah, I know, it's just, 'Oh, this character's weird' and 'Oh, that character's weird.' I can't really recall a version where I felt really engaged by it. So that's the goal, just to try to give it a gravity that most film versions haven't had."

How easy was it to persuade Depp to conjure up yet another enigmatic oddball? "He loves doing that. That's never a problem. He doesn't like to be the same way twice. That's good, it always keeps it fresh and all. And he likes the material we have here and he gets it. It's nice to have people involved that are fans of the material and all."

Is there a plan yet on Dark Shadows, based on the vampire soap opera, also set to star Depp? "Oh I don't know. Take one at time, you know? It's something I'm interested in of course. Definitely. But I'm going to start shooting this one first!"

I asked Burton if it's more than a coincidence that over the past decade his live-action films have often revisited and reimagined existing works, be they literature (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory), musicals (Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street), movies (Planet of the Apes) or television shows (Dark Shadows).

"Hmm. That's interesting. I don't know. I think we're all a product of our upbringing, you know, in a sense. I wasn't a very literary person. I loved movies. What you grow up with is what influences you. Whether you were a reader and there's a lot of books that you sort of want to translate to film or if it's other things that took in. I was definitely of a generation where the things I grew up watching still have impact on me. There's something about exercising that aspect of your personality or working with something that's meant a lot to you. It's just another way of processing ideas and all. So it's not really a conscious decision. I don't open up old 'TV Guides' and sit there and think, 'Hmmmm, 'Sanford & Son', that's the the movie I want to do. I watched that when I was a child...' "

Burton said he is ramping up his bravery for the Saturday night event with its hot spotlight and crowd. "I don't do it very often so it's not something I'm very used to. I'm not comfortable in big public situations, but at the same time it's a very nice thing. It's a very nice thing to do. But while it is nice, it's not the thing you think about a lot. For me, it's the people that come up to you on the streets, the people that say something to you in person, something nice and thoughtful, that's so much more interesting than connecting with a sort of staged event. you know? The types of people you grew up with, the people that enjoy certain kinds of movies, there's a connection with people like that. I certainly feel that. I mean, when someone comes up to me on the street and they have one of my drawings as a tattoo on their body, a real tattoo... I mean, that's pretty amazing. That's happened to me a few times."

Then there was a question I had to ask: What did Burton think of The Dark Knight? After a bit of fumbling around for words, Burton said: "I haven't seen it yet. I'm just, you know, busy. I do want to see it. I've heard it's very good. And I'm sure it is very good. Mostly everybody that I know that has seen it has said that it's very good and I take their word for it."

I thought it would be good to change the subject. There was a recent anniversary DVD of Beetlejuice, so I asked Burton how he frames that film in his mind when he looks back on it as both a career and creative moment.

"With that movie, I just remember that back then it was the second film I did and I felt very strange making it because everyone was thinking, 'This movie really has no story and it doesn't move along like a Hollywood movie.' It just felt very funny and strange having the opportunity to make that. I just remember that feeling every day: 'Wow, they're letting me make this, which is really weird.' And it continues to this day, that dynamic. It's still weird."

Seemed like a good place to stop. I thanked for Burton for his time and mentioned that I'm hoping to visit the Alice set soon. "That's great, I'll see you out here! I'll be on the green screen. Just look for a load of green. Take care."

-- Geoff Boucher

CREDITS:

Johnny Depp and Tim Burton in a November 2007 photograph by Liz O. Baylen/Los Angeles Times.

Illustration by John Tenniel from "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland."

Michael Keaton as Batman from the 1989 Tim Burton film, image courtesy of Warner Bros.

Tim Burton in 2006 at Hollywood Forever Cemetery, photographed by Ricardo DeAratanha\Los Angeles Times.

Tim Burton in 2006 at the Hollwyood Wax museum, with a waxen Johnny Depp in the background, photographed by Ricardo DeAratanha\Los Angeles Times

Photo of Johnny Depp and Tim Burton on the set of "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street" by Peter Mountain/Dreamworks-Warner Bros.

image from "The Nightmare Before Christmas" courtesy of Disney

Bonham Carter and Hathaway in "Wonderland"

Helena Bonham Carter and Anne Hathaway will both be in Alice in Wonderland.

Bonham Carter will play the role of the belligerent Red Queen, and Hathaway will play the more placid and kindhearted of the royal sisters, the White Queen. The distinction of having both of these characters suggests that the film will indeed follow the original Lewis Carroll book instead of simply emulating previous cinematic adaptations.

This is the first time Anne Hathaway has collaborated with Tim Burton (though there was talk that she was considered for a role in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street as well).




Helena Bonham Carter has been in each of Burton's films since Planet of the Apes in 2001.

Plenty More "Alice" Set Pics

If you want to see more photos of the set of Alice in Wonderland, click here.

Pictures courtesy of xPirate-Fanx, seen above with Tim Burton.

Michael Sheen in "Wonderland"

Variety has said that British actor Michael Sheen will be in Alice in Wonderland. No word on who he will play, though.

Sheen will also be in the Samuel L. Jackson thriller Unthinkable, and has a role in the forthcoming Ron Howard political drama Frost/Nixon. Sheen was previously in The Queen and The Deal, both of which had him playing former Prime Minister Tony Blair and both of which were directed by Stephen Frears.

Couple More Set Photos

A couple more Alice in Wonderland set photos are online: one of Mia Wasikowska, and a second of Billy Ray Burton, also in period garb.

"Alice in Wonderland" Set Photos!

Tim Burton and Mia Wasikowska on the set of Alice in Wonderland

INF Daily has posted some excellent set photos of the shoot in Cornwall, England.

Mia Wasikowska (playing Alice) and Tim Burton are prominent. Helena Bonham Carter is also on the set with baby Nell. Nell looks like she's in period costume, too... might she make a cameo appearance as an extra like first-born Billy Ray in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory?

Click on the following images for larger versions!

OFFICIAL: Depp in "Wonderland"

After months of speculation, it has been made official: Johnny Depp will play the Mad Hatter in Alice in Wonderland.

Dick Cook, chairman of the Walt Disney Studios, has confirmed this on Wednesday.

In addition to Alice, Depp will also be in two other upcoming Disney films: he will return as Captain Jack Sparrow in the fourth installment of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise and as the Lone Ranger's sidekick, Tonto, in a new cinematic adaption of the western serial (Depp is part Cherokee in addition to his German and Irish ancestry).

It has also been declared that Oscar-winning VFX supervisor Ken Ralston (who won awards for Robert Zemeckis' films Forrest Gump and Who Framed Roger Rabbit) is on set in London as the senior visual effects supervisor, working with Sony Pictures Imageworks on the animation. David Schaub is the animation supervisor and Sean Phillips and Carey Villegas are visual effects supervisors for Imageworks.


But after all of this talk about Alice in Wonderland, some of us are still wondering about Tim Burton's other film in his two-flick agreement with Walt Disney Studios: a feature-length, stop-motion animated version of Frankenweenie.

The fact is, no big recent news has come up, but it is still in the works (Burton confirmed this on the new DVD release of The Nightmare Before Christmas). Production will commence on the stop-motion adaptation as soon as shooting for Alice is completed (right now, pre-production is going underway). Both Frankenweenie and Alice in Wonderland will be released in theaters presented in Disney Digital 3-D (as will many of the studio's other future projects).

No word on whether Depp will provide his voice for Frankenweenie yet, though.

And Helena Bonham Carter?...

We all know that Johnny Depp is a frequent Tim Burton collaborator, and word of mouth indicates that he will be in Alice in Wonderland.

But what about Helena Bonham Carter, Burton's equally abundant actress and the mother of his two children? Perhaps it's a given, but some intriguing information has come up.

Jonathan Lynn, director of the forthcoming film Wild Target, stated that Helena Bonham Carter will not be in his next film, as the shooting schedule clashed with Alice in Wonderland.

So Bonham Carter will most likely be in Alice. Now the question is: Who will she play?

Eleanor Tomlinson to be in "Alice"

Sixteen-year-old actress Eleanor Tomlinson has stated that she will play the role of the spiteful Fiona Chataway in Alice in Wonderland.

Tomlinson, a Beverly native, has recently appeared in the teen comedy Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging.

The young actress commented on how enjoyable it has been to work on the film:

"I think it's amazing. I can't get over it.

"Everyone has been so nice to me on set.

"It's a small part, but it's well worth it. It's brilliant."

She began filming her scenes last week in Plymouth, and will continue to do so for the next three weeks. After that, she's returning back to school.

The article also focused on Tomlinson talking about Johnny Depp, who is supposed to play the role of the Mad Hatter in the computer-generated realm of Wonderland.

"Unfortunately, Johnny Depp is filming the animation scenes in the US so I won't meet him on set.

"But, hopefully, I'll get the chance during the premier.

"I'll be thrilled when I meet him, but also probably a little star-struck.

"I just have to act normal. Everyone says he is a really lovely guy."

Matt Lucas, who will play the roles of Tweedledee and Tweedledum, very recently also said that Depp would be in Los Angeles for his scenes. So unless both he and Tomlinson are misled, Depp will most likely be in the film (although it's not clear whether all of Wonderland will be computer animated with the motion-capture technology or just certain elements or characters in it).

Matt Lucas Confirms Role

British comedic actor Matt Lucas has confirmed that he will be playing the roles of Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum in Alice in Wonderland, and he is "very excited."

"I go out in early October to Los Angeles to film," he said.

"I think a lot of the work is going to be green screen but I've seen some set designs and what the characters are going to look like and they look absolutely extraordinary.

"I pinch myself when I think I'm going to be playing a part in a Disney movie directed by Tim Burton starring Johnny Depp - I can't quite believe it's going to be happening."

Technically, Depp has not been confirmed yet (rumors suggest that he will play the Mad Hatter). But Lucas' enthusiasm is indeed infectious.

You can read more about Lucas' forthcoming projects in this BBC article.

More info to come!

"Alice" Begins Filming

A few of the local extras on the set of
Alice in Wonderland in period attire.

Filming for Alice in Wonderland has reportedly commenced in Torpoint, specifically at the famous Antony House.

Production is reportedly already immense: Between 600 and 700 people, ranging from actors, extras, cameramen and production staff, are said to be operating at the site. Hundreds of cars park in a field converted to a make-shift car park. Adjacent to them are large trailers presumably used for wardrobe fittings and catering and hospitality. Countless taxis and catering companies are present at the site, and all the actors and production staff involved are presumably staying and dining locally.

Over the next few weeks 250 extras, most of which are from Plymouth and its general area, will attend shoots, dressed in Victorian-era clothing.

And what of Mr. Johnny Depp, who rumor-hungry fans online have been clamoring about playing the Mad Hatter? A spokeswoman for the production has said that the actor won’t be filming at Antony, in Plymouth, or indeed anywhere in the UK. She added that Disney had not even confirmed he would be appearing in the film at all.

We will have to wait and see who is in the film officially from a Disney press release. But for now, the meager scraps of information on Depp's supposed presence point to the contrary.

The Herald has a photo slide show of some of the extras for the film in this link, as well as a video.

We'll keep you posted on further filming updates!

Matt Lucas in "Wonderland"?

Variety has stated that British comic actor Matt Lucas will be playing the twins Tweedledee and Tweedledum in Alice in Wonderland, much like Deep Roy playing all of the Oompa Loompas in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

Lucas is best known for being in BBC's "Little Britain," and the coming HBO series "Little Britain USA," premiering on September 28th.

No other sources or details were provided to confirm this, so it's not official yet. But he certainly looks the part.

Francesca Jaynes: Choreographer for "Alice in Wonderland"

In an interview discussing her past, current, and future works, choreographer Francesca Jaynes revealed that she will be working on Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland. In the lengthy interview, Jaynes talked about her collaborations with Tim Burton -- starting with Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and then Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street -- how she communicates with him, and what she sees as his vision for the film and how she executes it.

Jaynes begins with discussing the challenge of choreographing Deep Roy -- one man who had to interact with hundreds of Oompa Loompa versions of himself -- in Charlie:

"The filming of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was so complicated that some days we were really pleased just to get a couple of seconds of finished footage in the can - thankfully not all the film was that slow."


She then went on to compare working with director Mike Leigh (on the Gilbert and Sullivan story Topsy Turvy) and Tim Burton:

"The differences between Mike and Tim are huge. With Mike you can talk and talk and talk about a subject but Tim, he has got to see it. I can start to talk to Tim about a dance and I can see his eyes start to glaze over. Then he'll go: 'Get some dancers, show me.' As soon as he sees it, then he can talk about it.

"I can understand why Tim always has the same team around him because you have got to have that understanding. He's quite shy but very perceptive. He's a very visual person."


On getting to know Burton:

"I went for an interview for Charlie with the producers and I didn't think it had gone very well at all. It was one of those interviews where I couldn't remember anything and I thought it all sounded a bit vague. The problem was that I had had a terrible time on De-Lovely, the Cole Porter musical, and I was a bit wary of working with Americans but then they invited me back to meet Tim.

"My rather stumbling interview worked in my favour because the producers knew you can't have someone who talks at Tim, you have to listen because Tim sometimes finds it hard to articulate what he's after which is why he'll often grab a pen and do you a drawing."


Jaynes recalled that Burton was interested in working with her because of her work on A.I.: Artificial Intelligence, Steven Spielberg's science-fiction tribute to the late master director Stanley Kubrick:

"The first thing that Tim said to me was 'I like the movement you did with Jude Law', referring to the work I had done on AI, and he was the only person, outside family and friends, who had noticed the work that went into that and that's because of the way that he animates his stop- motion work."


Jaynes work in the movie suggests that dance will be in Alice in Wonderland, if only briefly (maybe one scene or two). But in what context? In Lewis Carroll's original book, there are a couple of songs. Perhaps these will be adapted in Burton's cinematic version of the story? Or perhaps it'll be for character motion in general, for the weird assortment of Wonderland denizens.

You can read the full article to learn plenty more about Francesca Jaynes' various work in film and theater alike.

Mia Wasikowska Set for "Alice"

After being in talks with Disney, it appears that 18-year-old Mia Wasikowska is officially set to play Alice in the upcoming Alice in Wonderland.

"I'm so so excited. The book's really intrigued me when I was little and I've always loved the story," she said.

The young actress also expressed enthusiasm for being able to work with director Tim Burton. She stated that she admired his films. "I really love Edward Scissorhands and Big Fish," she said.

Rumors are still abound online claiming that Johnny Depp will be the Mad Hatter. But Wasikowska said that, at the moment, she is the only person who has officially been cast.

Filming begins next month.

Historic House to Be Set in "Wonderland"

Antony House

The historic Antony House is reported to be one of the shooting locations for Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland.

The National Trust property, situated in Torpoint, Cornwall, will be closed to the public from September 1st until October 14th to allow filming to take place. The Antony House, an early 18th-century mansion, features a garden and a Woodland Garden.

Rebecca Miller, National Trust house and visitor services manager for Antony said: "We are absolutely over the moon that Antony has been chosen as a location for Tim Burton's new film Alice in Wonderland.

"One of the reasons it was chosen was because it's a hidden gem – it's one of the Trust's lesser known properties and they felt this fitted in very well with the feel of the film."

Harvey Edgington, the National Trust's broadcast media liaison officer added: "The National Trust happily provides locations when possible, to a variety of films, TV dramas, documentaries and commercials.

"Clearly there is a direct financial benefit to the Trust, a charity where four out of five properties run at a loss every year due to conservation demands.

"Alice in Wonderland will not only help raise funds for the ongoing conservation work needed at Antony, but will also contribute to the local economy by having the crew on location."

A spokesman for the casting agents, Mad Dog Casting Ltd, said the other filming locations were being kept "top secret".

"The extras will not be told where they are filming until the night before the shoot," the spokesman added.

About 3,000 people came to the New Continental Hotel in Plymouth to audition for the film as extras. Males were told via text message whether they we accepted on this past Thursday and Friday. Female hopefuls will be informed on a later date.

Ultimately, 250 extras will be chosen for the Victorian era look of the film, along with three dogs (a common theme in Tim Burton's films).

Hundreds Gather for Big-Screen Debut in "Wonderland"

Casting director Ilenka Jelowicki and her crew are looking for 250 extras for the forthcoming Tim Burton film Alice in Wonderland. Not surprisingly, hundreds of hopefuls gathered on Wednesday, August 6th, and endured hours in a long line and the pouring rain in Plymouth, England, long before Ms. Jelowicki and the casting agents began looking at potential cast members at 10:00 am at the New Continental Hotel.

25-year-old musician and actor Andrew Lessiter, a citizen of Plymouth, was the first to arrive for auditions -- at 2:00 am.

"I'm a real film buff and just to be involved in any way in a Tim Burton film would be a huge honor," said Lessiter.

Claire Trigger: "I'd make a good card, but I'd even lay on the floor
and play a dead rabbit if they asked me."

Hopeful people ranged from age 16 to well past 70, and ranged from school teachers, drama students, engineers, decorators, shop assistants, phlebotomists, and grandmothers, to name a few.

But despite their star-struck enthusiasm, Ilenka Jelowicki warned that it isn't all fun and games on a movie set. "When you get local people involved, they really give a lot of effort to the picture and their enthusiasm really counts," she said. "But it can be a long day being on set for 12 to 14 hours a day."

Nik Brookson arrived in Victorian era costume.

Plenty more hopefuls will arrive tomorrow for a chance to be in the phantasmagorical movie.

Filming begins in Plymouth next month.

Casting and Location Scouts in Plymouth Next Week

While the film's title was not officially announced, it appears that a certain Disney cinematic adaptation of a certain Lewis Carroll novel will be at least partially filmed in a certain South West England city called Plymouth, a certain news agency called the BBC News stated. In addition to looking for prime Victorian era shooting locations, the casting director of Alice in Wonderland (crap!--wasn't meant to say that!), Ilenka Jelowicki, said that casting agents are looking for people to be extras in the fantasy film, which will apparently be directed by a certain Tim Burton.

Auditions will take place at the New Continental Hotel in Plymouth, on Wednesday, August 6th and Thursday, August 7th, between 10 am and 6 pm. Eventually, the casting agents will select 250 extras, who will be paid.


Ms. Jelowicki went into more detail: "We are looking for people above the age of 16 who have naturally coloured hair.

"We would prefer girls with long hair and men with natural styles. Extras will get to dress up in Victorian period costume, corsets and wigs and will have their make-up done.

"We would also like people whose work allows the flexibility of two weeks' worth of filming."

Locations for filming are being tightly kept under-wraps, but Plymouth clearly drew appeal to the filmmakers for its notable Victorian era look and aesthetics. Shooting will take place in the city in September for two weeks.

IMDb.com has announced that Alice will be released in theaters on March 5th, 2010.


In related news, websites across the Internet still can't stop yammering about a rumor that Johnny Depp will be playing the Mad Hatter, despite the fact that there is no official or credible source to take account for this claim. We will have to wait to see if this is true or not. However, we do know that Mia Wasikowska is in talks with Disney to play the lead role of Alice.

Tim Burton's Alice Revealed

Rumors have been floating around for months regarding who would play the lead in Tim Burton's upcoming Alice in Wonderland.
But at long last, the Hollywood Reporter has announced that Burton and Disney have found their Alice: 18-year-old Australian actress Mia Wasikowska. The young actress is reportedly in final negotiations for her part in the Lewis Carroll adaptation.

Mia Wasikowska (Getty Images photo)

Burton kept his word by casting a relative "unknown" actress in the business, but simultaneously one that has experience. Wasikowska, originally born in Canberra, began her career in the Australian TV series "All Saints" and is currently a regular on HBO's "In Treatment." Her other upcoming cinematic projects include "Defiance," a war drama which will also star Daniel Craig and be directed by Ed Zwick, and she plays a supporting role in a forthcoming biographical movie on Amelia Earhart, "Amelia," starring Hilary Swank and directed by Mira Nair.

While the rest of the cast of Alice hasn't been announced (or found?), we do already know of principle players in the making of the film. Long-time Disney scribe Linda Woolverton has written the screenplay; frequent Burton collaborator Richard D. Zanuck is producing the film, along with former Disney chairman Joe Roth and Jennifer and Suzanne Todd. Disney creative executive Jason Reed will oversee the project.

Alice in Wonderland will be a combination of live-action and performance-capture computer-generated animation. It will be released in theaters in Disney Digital 3-D in March 2010. Principal photography is said to commence this November, several months later than previously anticipated.

Hopefully, more news (and more accurate news) will come shortly!

Burton v. Marie: Legal Battle

Director Tim Burton has been ordered to stand trial in a lawsuit by his ex-girlfriend Lisa Marie, who claims she's owed millions of dollars.

Los Angeles Superior Court Justice Teresa Sanchez-Gordon ruled on the morning of Friday, July 18th, 2008, that a trial is the best means to determine whether Burton verbally agreed to bankroll Marie for life in return for her acting in his films (which include Ed Wood, Mars Attacks!, Sleepy Hollow, and Planet of the Apes) and serving as his personal manager, as her suit contends, before allegedly duping her into a much smaller payout.

Burton had fought to have his lawsuit tossed. There has been no immediate comment from neither his publicist nor his lawyer.

While Marie turned up for the proceedings in California, Burton participated on the phone, since he is in London, busy working on his upcoming Alice in Wonderland.


The article by Josh Grossberg continues as follows:

In his motion seeking dismissal, attorney Joseph Mannis argued that any sort of oral agreement was not applicable in this case, because Lisa Marie signed off on a $5.5 million settlement. Per the terms of that deal, Mannis argued, Lisa Marie relinquished all claims to Burton's assets and promised not to file a palimony suit.

But the model and actress, who appeared in small roles in many of Burton's films and whose real name is Lisa Marie Smith, claims she only received $2.7 million and was victimized by a conspiracy. She claims that Burton worked with her own advisers to shortchange her.

Burton filed a countersuit last September seeking a court declaration affirming she was obligated to live up to the prior deal.

One of the plaintiff's lawyers lashed out at the director's camp for a bullying tactic in which they threatened to take futher legal action against her if she fought Burton's petition to dismiss the case.

"They said that if we had the temerity to file papers in opposition to their motion for some reason that they would file a malicious prosecution action not only against Lisa Marie but also against me," cocounsel Judd Burstein told E! News. "It's going to be very interesting what the jury thinks of that kind of hubris."

Burstein added his camp was "very pleased" by the judge's ruling.

"It's not unexpected to us. Nice to know that just because you're a big celebrity you can't get your way by cheating and bullying."

The attorney also said that a chance for an amicable agreement was past.

"We've had some [settlement] talks, but it's not going anywhere," Burstein said. "We want our day in court, and it will be a very bad day for Tim Burton."

That day is now scheduled for August 11th.

Casting Rumors for "Alice in Wonderland"

As always, it is wise to be dubious of rumors online. But I couldn't help but point out these small tidbits of information regarding Tim Burton's upcoming Alice in Wonderland...

Cinematical has stated that there is talk that Burton has finally cast his Alice.

On an "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" forum, a guest named Lexie stated the following:

"My brother is working on the movie and he said Alice has been cast. He is a music supervisor for the movie and said there will be a press release about it on July 9th. The role was originally supposed to be Evan Rachel Woods but she backed out. Alice won't be played by a child but a 23 year old. From what I was told it's her first Burton movie, and her first big role in a film that will be released world wide. Tim wanted to cast someone who could portray a child but could also capture the odities of the story. My brother told me that the girl playing Alice is wonderful and Tim picked her very quickly. Filming is supposed to start in July with a press release with the entire cast on July 9th! I do know the actresses name but I don't want to type it here incase there is some kind of rights against that until the press release."


On the same forum, another guest named Ian B made these remarks:

"i came across this thread being that im a huge fan of alice in wonderland. my best friends aunt is ryan nikole parkers manager and she is definitely alice. she signed on to the movie a few days ago. my bff said she just turned 24. you can find her myspace on some of the threads and her imdb."


There was talk that Burton was more interested in casting an unknown actress (which thankfully excludes Lindsay Lohan). So Evan Rachel Woods is likely not Alice, either. Ryan Nikole Parker, on the other hand, is barely known beyond Broadway, fitting the description of a relative "unknown" in the movie business.

Ryan Nikole Parker: Alice?

There is also talk on IMDb.com that there is already conceptual drawings for the look of the film (no production designer or art director has been announced yet).

However, there is reason to be cautious: while it is possible that the music of the upcoming film is being considered, already having a music supervisor on the team so early in pre-production seems unusual (the film is not even set for release until March 2010).

Nothing is official in Hollywood until the press release is made. But if the mention of an official press release on July 9th is the only truthful statement, then we only have a few days to look forward to finding out who will pla