Monday, October 27, 2008

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.

42 comments:

Anonymous said...

That's incorrect. Sheen is playing the white rabbit and the cheshire cat is being played by Stephen Fry. Lee is most likely to be Alice's father or his long time friend and business partner. The march hare will be played by the actor who payed Charlie's dad in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. The name escapes me.

Anonymous said...

Alan Rickman as Caterpillar?! Yes!! This movie is so gonna rock!

Anonymous said...

well, that was lee. so I guess your source isn't quite trustworthy...

"Burton’s take on the Mad Hatter was pretty wild" - sounds interessting! I'm so damn excited!

Anonymous said...

The actor who played Charlie's father in CatCF si Christopher Lee.From where do you have this information?

Anonymous said...

oooooohhh GOSH I am sorry, I misteked Charlie for Willy Wonka.I'm so sorry, you were right!

Anonymous said...

Ahhhh! This movie is taking too long!!! I love Alan Rickman, this news makes me HAPPY! Greatly anticipating Johnny Depp's portrayal of the Mad Hatter, sounds kick ass!

You silly folk getting your Chocolate Factory characters mixed up! Teehee Charlie's dad was the guy in the Tomb Raider movies. Name also escapes me, but he is cool too!

Anonymous said...

Alan Rickman will make a GREAT caterpillar!

I am pretty sure that Micheal Sheen is the Cheshire cat (the link clearly states that!) I doubt that burton would give such a small role for Lee, I think more along the lines of the White Knight or The Gryphon.

I think you are talking about Noah Taylor when you say "Charlie's Father" and I can see him as the March Hare. However, Stephen Fry fits more of Humpty Dumpty then Cheshire. (Yes, Humpty Dumpty was in the looking glass.)

Anonymous said...

No, Humpty Dumbty is not in the film. Sheen is the white rabbit and Fry is the big fat green hairy cheshire cat. Lee is either playing Alice's father, her father's long time friend/business partner, or the White Knight--though he only a ppears in a tiny flashback in the script I've read.

Anonymous said...

^Uhhhhn... how did you get the script?

Anonymous said...

You've read the script? Please tell me, where did you find it?

Anonymous said...

Okay so I went and found out who Lee was playing. He's going to be the Jaberwockie. I bet I spelled that wrong. I also found out who's playing the bloodhound, but I forgot now. It was a big name too. Maybe Daniel Craig? But don't hold that one against me, I'm not sure. Can't remember.

Anonymous said...

If Lee is the Jabberwock, that is AWSOME AND PERFECT!!! All we need is a link that proves this piece of information!

Anonymous said...

Wow this sounds incredible! All these crazy characters... Once again the amazing Mr. Burton allows famous names to laugh at themselves. As for the Madhatter... I can hardly breathe for anticipation! Helena is going to be kick-ass as the Red Queen too. I can honestly say this will be the most epic movie of 2010. He's so perfect for this material!

Ps- Charlie's dad is indeed Noah Taylor. Tut tut we need to go watch the movie again, don't we? ;)

Anonymous said...

Well trust me, he is. I made a huge mistake about the boodhound. He is not played by Daniel Craig, nor is Craig being cast in the film at all. Timothy Spall is the bloodhound and Barbara Windsor is the Dormouse.

Anonymous said...

This is all cool, but we need PROOF.

Bloodhound? I don't remember THAT in the novel...

Was he/she?

Anonymous said...

Michael Sheen actually played the Cheshire Cat and NOT the white Rabbit. Where you have this stupid stuff?!
AND the Cheshire Cat will be NOT green hairy!!!
Oh please, come on, the role of the puppy is really, really little!!!
I think the cast is just perfect!!!
Alan Rickman as blue caterpillar- this is great!!!!

Anonymous said...

Bayard the Bloodhound is not a little puppy. He's a gigantic evil bloodhound who is set out by the Queen Iracebeth's guards to sniff and hunt down Alice. And in his early cgi character design, the cheshire cat is a large, fat, cuddly green cat--kind of like Totoro--with black lines, cat like eyes, and a huge yellow grin. And he's set to be played by Stephen Fry. Sheen will be playing the White Rabbit, who looks just like what you expect him to look like. A white rabbit with a pocket watch and a blue jacket/waist coat. The caterpillar looks like a real life gigantic caterpillar. Nothing stylised about him. And he does have his hookah.

Anonymous said...

I don't know anonymous, where you have this sh**t (sorry, but it is...)
I was on the set!!!
At first: Michael Sheen will play the Cheshire Cat and NOT the White Rabbit!!!
And the Cheshire Cat will be not so fat and NOT green hairy!!!
Stephen Fry is actually not included in this project...
I really don't know where you have this stupid stuff!!!
And this is CORRECT!!!!!!!!!!
Sorry, but I've spoken with Neil Swain, the dialect coach of the movie, it's true!!!!

Anonymous said...

@Anonymus: Is this true? Where you have this stuff? Are you included in the cast, or is this all just a fantasy from you??

Anonymous said...

Hhmm...
A real life gigantic caterpillar....
It sounds scary!!
Why he does not look like on tenniel's illustration or the disney movie?!

Anonymous said...

I think this all is just nonsens...
Daniel Craig as Bloodhound...
Sounds really crazy...
And a gigantic real look like caterpillar sounds scary...
Sorry, I can not believe that this is true!!

Anonymous said...

Tell me more about the script, please!!! :D ;-)

Anonymous said...

No, no, I already said it's not Daniel Craig and that I made a mistake. It's Timothy Spall who is playing the Bloodhound. The script is basically a very loose adaptation. It's generally more like the Wizard of Oz. Alice returns to Wonderland (which might end up being called Underland) and meets her friends, The Mad Hatter (Tarrant), the March Hare (Thackery), and the Dormouse (Mallymkin). She then decides to help them defeat the Red Queen of Hearts, who has reigned terror over Underland by having Jabberwocky in her posession. Alice's destiny is to bascially kill the Jabberwocky. Who is being played by Christopher Lee. Alice and the Mad Hatter fall in love, while the Knave of Hearts is an evil Knight with a heart shaped eye patch who is Queen Iracebeth's faithful man-servant. The Queen has a crush on him. The Queen essentially looks like a giant fucked up looking anime Characterisation of Queen Elizabeth (the first) with a gigantic head that is shaped like a heart. Her castle looks like a fucked up version of the Disney castle, full of red hearts, and various parts of it surreally warped to form even more hearts. Alice is basically lured back into Underland by the white rabbit after attending a huge party that has been created as a setup for the son of her father's business partner (Lord Ascot) to propose to her in front of a giant crowd of partygoers.

Anonymous said...

I believe no word!!
I've read some pieces of Linda Woolverton's script. It's very close to the book(s)...
Only the Queen of Hearts and the Red Queen will be one character and not the Jabberwocky, the Bandersnatch is included in this movie. Only the beginning and the end of the movie is much more different to the original book.
The Style of the movie will be loosely based on the style of the disney animation feature from 1951; only a little bit more darker...
I saw many Art Design from the Cheshire Cat for the movie.
There was never a green hairy cheshire cat. Only one with orange and yellow stripes, and one completly black.
The other styles for the cheshire cat I've seen were purple-pink, very like the disney cartoon version. And one version, where the cat look like a real life grey cat with a human grinning...

Anonymous said...

You're just trying to trick me into showing an actual image from the production artwork as a means of proving that I'm telling the truth. Well guess what, I don't care if you don't believe me. And judging by the responses, I won't bother revealing any more details from the production from now on.

Anonymous said...

It will be better so!!! :D
;-)

Anonymous said...

Alice fell in love with the mad hatter?!
Underland, not Wonderland?
Timothy Spall as bloodhound?!!
Oh god, Linda Woolverton's script will hopefully better than yours...

Anonymous said...

Where is everybody reading the script?! I wanna read it too!

Anonymous said...

There have been various reports saying that Stephen Fry is indeed in the movie, but they all credit his role as unknown, while Michael Sheen is credited in the same articles as the Cheshire Cat.

Also, I belong to Christopher Lee's official fansite, and the administrator (his son-in-law) said that while he can't tell us who he is playing, his role would be easy for us to guess. The Jabberwock, not being an actual CHARACTER in either "Alice" book, would be pretty hard to guess I think.

Anonymous said...

Well Stephen Fry IS the green cheshire cat. Sheen IS the White Rabbit. Timothy Spall IS Bayard the Bloodhound. Barbara Windsor IS the Dormouse. Lee IS Jabberwocky. And Depp DOES look like that, minus the photoshopped brown rabbit. So deal with it.

Anonymous said...

Okay, okay, I believe you!!!

Anonymous said...

Well Stephen Fry IS NOT the green cheshire cat. Sheen IS NOT the White Rabbit. Timothy Spall IS NOT Bayard the Bloodhound. Barbara Windsor IS NOT the Dormouse. Lee IS NOT Jabberwocky.
Deep Roy play the dormouse!!!

Anonymous said...

Not to mention, I sent an e-mail to Tim Pigott Smith's personal webpage, and he told me that he indeed is playing a man named Lord Ascot married to a Lady Ascot, played by Geraldine James.

Anonymous said...

"The caterpillar looks like a real life gigantic caterpillar. Nothing stylised about him. And he does have his hookah."

But this information is false.
The Caterpillar have the face of Alan Rickman!!!

Anonymous said...

Alan Rickman has reported the Queen to have a large head, and in the interview with one of the animators, he calls Wonderland, "Underland".

Anonymous said...

I sooo hope that the story with Alice falling in love with the mad hatter is not true!!!
This have nothing to do with the original book!!
Oh please, Tim Burton, please Linda Woolverton; why you do this?!
Would Lewis Carroll live now, maybe he died when he heard this!!

Anonymous said...

NOAH TAYLOR!!!! at the top you all didn't know 'The guy who plays Charlie's dad/March Hare' and I didn't read the rest of the comment so I don't know if anyone else said his name, so sorry if you have.

Also, Michael Sheen is definately playing the White Rabbit and Stephen Fry the Cheshire Cat and Timothy Spall as the Bloodhound and Christopher Lee as the Japperwock - again sorry if you have already said!!

This movie is gonna be awesome!!! I can imagine it already!!!!

Anonymous said...

Please, all of you, go onto this site: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice_in_Wonderland_(2010_film) and see all the fact that you'll need to know to stop you arguing.

Also, it would be very much appreciated if people will not reveal certain information unless it has been offically confimed and they are 200% certain it is true. It will save a lot of confusion. And can people not lie please.

Bye bye

Anonymous said...

I heard that Christopher Lee was going to play the Jaberwocky. And that Stephen Fry (Nararator for Little Big Planet and The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy) will play the Cheshire Cat. (Which I saw on IMDB) I also heard that Michael Sheen would play the role of The Cheshire Cat, but maybe that was early on, I'm not sure. But I can defenitely see Alan Rickman as the Caterpillar.

Anonymous said...

I heard that Christopher Lee was going to play the Jaberwocky. And that Stephen Fry (Nararator for Little Big Planet and The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy) will play the Cheshire Cat. (Which I saw on IMDB) I also heard that Michael Sheen would play the role of The Cheshire Cat, but maybe that was early on, I'm not sure. But I can defenitely see Alan Rickman as the Caterpillar.

Anonymous said...

"Bayard the Bloodhound is not a little puppy. He's a gigantic evil bloodhound who is set out by the Queen Iracebeth's guards to sniff and hunt down Alice. And in his early cgi character design, the cheshire cat is a large, fat, cuddly green cat--kind of like Totoro--with black lines, cat like eyes, and a huge yellow grin. And he's set to be played by Stephen Fry. Sheen will be playing the White Rabbit, who looks just like what you expect him to look like. A white rabbit with a pocket watch and a blue jacket/waist coat. The caterpillar looks like a real life gigantic caterpillar. Nothing stylised about him. And he does have his hookah."

Please, tell me, Anonymus, why you did know everthing before it was state official?? Are you from the Film Crew?? But I can't believe that Rickman's Caterpillar looks like a gigantic, realistic caterpillar with hookah. Because he said, his face will be on the character!!!

Christie said...

Folks, Wikipedia is not a reliable source. I wish people would realize that. Anyone can post anything on Wikipedia, it doesn't even have to be true. This is why most colleges ban the use of Wikipedia.