FAQ for
Alice (2010) More at IMDbPro »

Actually, this is not an adaptation of Lewis Carrol's Alice in Wonderland stories, it is an adaptation of American McGee's video game, which is called Alice. The video game is set about ten years after the second book, and is not a remake of the first or second Alice in Wonderland books as some seem to think.

Note: This has nothing to do with Disney's new "Alice in Wonderland" film. That is simply another adaptation of Lewis Carroll's books.

The game takes place after her second adventure Through the Looking-Glass And what Alice Found There. A candle in Alice's house is knocked to the floor by a cat and causes the house to catch fire - Alice luckily survives, but her parents die. Alice enters a deep state of catatonia and is institutionalised in an Asylum. After being in the asylum for several years, she responds to a mysterious summons to return to Wonderland, and the place is barely recognisable. Something has gone very wrong. Undaunted by the diseased atmosphere, confusion and mortal danger that surrounds her, Alice commits to restore Wonderland to its proper state, in hopes of regaining her sanity as well.

You are quite right. This project has gone through plenty a change. The film began as a project spearheaded by American McGee in 2000. The project's history is a rocky one and despite initial success, it met with disaster and fell into obscurity for several years. For a long time, it seemed the project was lost and that the film would not happen.

Prior to this announcement, there were earlier attemps to create a film based on the videogame. Unofficially, the project was often referred to as Dark Wonderland. Negotiations began even before the game was finished in 2000. American McGee and two film producers pitched the idea of making a movie to Dimension Films. Head of Dimension Studios, Bob Weinstien was shown the CG trailer for the game and "then he slammed his fist down and said, 'we are making this movie.'". Dimension Films hired John August to write a film treatment and Wes Craven was supposed to direct the film. However, Craven did not care for August's treatment and despite attempts by other writers to put forth ideas for the story, no progress was made. The studio became displeased with the two film producers and the project collapsed.

According to screenwriter John August, neither the alleged title Dark Wonderland nor any rumored casting were real. Wes Craven, in answering questions about the proposed film, also indicated that the project never even reached a stage in which casting would be considered.

For several years, there was no news of the film. Fans sent e-mails to John August and American McGee and both replied that they did not know what was happening with it. Despite being the creative force behind the game, McGee did not own the rights to it. Four years after initial announcements, in April 2004, McGee stated that the film rights had been moved to 20th Century Fox. McGee wrote that they "love the project and are going to make it", but he was skeptical. And in the end, the project would not be produced by Fox, but another year would pass before there was an update.

Finally, On June 21, 2005 news surfaced that the film adaptation was going to be produced. The project had moved to Universal Studios and would be titled, Alice, with Erich and Jon Hoeber adapting the script.

Marcus Nispel was set to direct. The news came in connection with the announcement that actress Sarah Michelle Gellar had been cast as Alice. American McGee was listed as an executive producer on the project.

Originally planned for release in 2006, the release date was later changed to 2007.

On February 3, 2006, it was announced in an interview that the script for Alice had been completed, and that filming could begin as early as the summer.

Yes. However it was once rumoured that Alice would have a Wicked Aunt. We think that it's possible this rumour has something to do with the Frank Beddor book 'The Looking Glass Wars', in which the queen of hearts is Alice's aunt Redd. But this is not so because this film is based on the vdieo game 'Alice' and not Frank Beddor's 'The Looking Glass Wars'.

Alice is admitted into the asylum somewhere around age 8-9 (1864). The last date recorded in the case book (that came with the original edition of the game) is 1874, when Alice is 18/19 years old. In the case book, on the date of September 7, 1873, Alice presented her doctor with a picture of the Cheshire Cat (which is the first character she meets up with in the game). This has lead us to assume that she enters Wonderland around the age of 17/18.

The above appears to be a somewhat correct calculation. This is from McGee: I know this one has been asked before. When I wrote the story for the game I did some kind of calculation to ensure that she was aged 18 when the new adventure into Wonderland began. Again, not exactly sure of her age in the movie - and again, not sure it's critical to the story.

You've heard wrong. That was simply a rumour. Mr. Manson was cast to play the Queen in another Alice film; "Living Neon Dreams" (http://imdb.com/title/tt0371796/), but is now making his own film about Alice instead. His movie will bear the name "Phantasmagoria: The Visions of Lewis Carroll" (http://imdb.com/title/tt0758775/).

No, although it had been considered for "Dark Wonderland", Alice will be live-action. But as you might expect, not many live-action movies are without CGI effects these days.

The movie will follow the storyline of the game, which is an extension of the storyline from Lewis Carrol's famous stories, meaning the heroine is merely an aged, and tormented, version of Lewis Carrol's Alice from the books. The game's author, American McGee, has even stated this by saying "Alice in the game is supposed to be Alice from the book. No idea what the film writers are thinking on this subject though."