Johnny Depp will play kids’ favourite The Mad Hatter in a new film version of Alice In Wonderland.The film, which will be shot in 3D, sees Depp teaming up yet again with director pal Tim Burton.
Burton made Depp a household name after handing him the title role in quirky hit Edward Scissorhands in 1990. The Pirates of The Caribbean actor has since starred in several of the eccentric director’s flicks, including Sweeney Todd and Ed Wood. But the Alice project is said to be their most tantalizing yet.
A source said:
“Tim has had designs on ‘Alice in Wonderland’ since before he was famous.
“He has a knack for turning what seems like stories for just kids into gripping, spooky fables loved just as much by adults.
“He’s held out on doing ‘Alice’ until he got a big enough budget. Now this film is financed by Disney so money won’t be a problem.”
The movie – which is scheduled for release in 2010 – will be the seventh time Johnny and Tim have worked together.
Disney produced an animated version of ‘Alice in Wonderland’ in 1951.
Actor Jean Rochefort suffered a double hernia on the first day of filming, while the second day saw most of the set in Madrid washed away.
Johnny allegedly refused to wait for his co-star to recover before filming could begin again and pulled out of the role, causing financiers to pull their backing and the project being aborted.
A source revealed:
“They are having another crack at it after putting a deal together. Johnny is a bigger star now than he was then, thanks to the ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ franchise, and there is every confidence they can pull it off.”
Great news, but what’s with the Jean Rochefort passage?