Disney has been hitting the world with a full-on promotional assault for "Alice in Wonderland." And it's no wonder. You've got the always-potent team-up of Tim Burton and Johnny Depp. You've got one of the studio's most cherished franchises being revisited. And you've got this highly anticipated beast hitting theaters in IMAX 3-D presentations, right on the heels of the record-breaking success of "Avatar." Of course they're trying get us excited!
In the midst of the many trailers and images and posters and the like, precious few facts about how the whole production came together have been shared. There are a handful of featurettes, but it's just a taste. There's a ton of trivia yet to be revealed. Well we've spoken with Disney and secured a few tidbits for you to enjoy, just some fun facts about the work behind the scenes on "Alice." You can find them all after the break. Read more...
Johnny Depp tried his hand at directing once. In 1997, he wrote, starred in and helmed a movie called "The Brave," which also turned out to be one of the final screen performances for the legendary actor, Marlon Brando. It wasn't very good by most accounts and it never saw any kind of theatrical release in the United States.
Depp shifted back to acting again, and proceeded to star in a string of features that propelled him to superstardom, starting with the deft adaptation of Hunter S. Thompson's "Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas" in 1997 and culminating, of course, with "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl" in 2003. He's been flying high ever since, but he's not stepped back behind the camera since "The Brave." Until now. Read more...
At the Critics' Choice Awards last week, MTV's Josh Horowitz scored a few moments on the red carpet with "Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs" directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller. Lord and Miller are set to next tackle "21 Jump Street," a contemporary adaptation of the late-'80s/early-'90s TV series about a group of undercover cops tasked with infiltrating a high school.
Even if you don't remember the show, there's one important fact you should know about it: "21 Jump Street" starred a (very) young Johnny Depp, and was responsible for his early fame. And since Depp has previously expressed interest to us in having a cameo in the coming adaptation, Josh had to follow up on it with the two directors.
"He has not seen the script yet, but we're very open to his participation," Lord said, his grin widening. "The biggest movie star in the world, we're totally open to him being in the movie. Yeah, twist our arm," he joked. Read more...
Early in December, word buzzed around that "The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus" director Terry Gilliam was eying Robert Duvall to star in his next effort, the long, long-awaited "The Man Who Killed Don Quixote." Johnny Depp was set to star in Gilliam's first ill-fated attempt at telling the tale, and he's been an on-again, off-again contender to join the cast of the filmmaker's latest attempt for some time.
Now the director is saying that Depp is definitely out, Duvall is definitely in and another, as-yet-unnamed actor is also in talks to join the cast -- no one "A-prime," as Gilliam says (via The Playlist). Read more...
We spoke to "Nine" director Rob Marshall a couple of times towards the end of last year. He'll be the one helming "Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides," which everyone has questions about. Will it be a 3-D release? Where will the story pick up? Will stars Orlando Bloom or Keira Knightley return? How about Johnny Depp?
That last question seems to be the most prevalent one in the minds of fans. Fortunately, MTV's Josh Horowitz spoke to Marshall on the Golden Globe Awards red carpet and he got some of the first definitive answers on the subject of Depp and the fourth "Pirates" movie.
"We've now started, officially," he revealed. "I'm talking to Johnny and it's been great. I've been working already. I'm spending a lot of time with [producer] Jerry Bruckheimer. Learning this whole adventure of this... different genre for me, which I feel so at home [with] already." Read more...
FROM MTV.COM: Avril Lavigne is going down the rabbit hole. The singer has officially landed a track called "Alice Underground" on the soundtrack of Tim Burton's upcoming re-imagination of "Alice in Wonderland," according to Variety.
Some Lavigne fansites have reported that the track will also be the first single from the pop-punk princess' upcoming fourth album, but there has been no official confirmation. Lavigne joins a burgeoning roster of musicians helping out on the soundtrack to the Johnny Depp-led adaptation of the Lewis Carroll classic, which already includes a much-anticipated hookup between former tour mates Mark Hoppus of Blink-182 and Fall Out Boy's Pete Wentz.
Continue reading Avril Lavigne Song To Appear On Tim Burton's 'Alice In Wonderland' Soundtrack
Nearly a decade passed between films for Albert and Allen Hughes—2001's "From Hell" to next week's "Book of Eli"—but don't think for a second the twin brothers weren't busy. They pursued a bunch of different Hollywood projects, and were pursued for many more. Two such films, as MTV News has exclusively learned, were mammoth Disney productions.
The Hughes brothers were approached to direct both "Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides" and "The Lone Ranger." Once Gore Verbinksi dropped out of the "Pirates" franchise in April after directing the first three films and before Rob Marshall signed on, the Hughes brothers met with Johnny Depp (their "From Hell" star) and Jerry Bruckheimer to discuss boarding the big screen flicks. Read more...
That "off with her head" quote is just one of the fan-pleasing moments that show up in this new trailer for Tim Burton's sequel -- let's face it, that's what it is -- to the Disney classic/Lewis Carroll book, "Alice in Wonderland." Sure, Burton's flick is also called "Alice in Wonderland," but the story is set long after the events in the original story.
You actually get a bit of that exposition in this new trailer as well, so if you're unclear on how the story is set up you should definitely check it out. Also check it out if you're already a fan, as there's a lot of great stuff here: the Red Queen (Helena Bonham Carter) shouting her famous line, her playing card army on the march, Johnny Depp's Mad Hatter being... well... mad and plenty more. No caterpillar though. Bummer.
by Rya Backer
Johnny Depp hasn’t seen "Public Enemies," but Japanese fans — don’t let that keep you from checking out the flick when it comes out this weekend (note: yes, it was released Stateside when the weather was really, really warm).
"I haven't seen the film yet," Depp confessed during a press conference in Japan for the movie — his first appearance in the country in nearly two years. Read more...
Earlier this year we asked Tim Burton about his upcoming adaptation of "Dark Shadows," the '60s soap opera with a vampire protagonist and a generally supernatural edge. Before that even, we heard from both Burton and his intended "Shadows" star Johnny Depp that the TV adaptation would shoot next year.
Now we have an even more specific time frame to work with. Speaking to producer Graham King, Sci Fi Wire has learned that production will start on "Shadows" late next year. What, you want to know when? "We're actually going to shoot that film next September/October with Tim Burton and Johnny," he said. Which I'm guessing means that the movie will see a summer or fall 2011 release, presuming all goes as planned. Read more...
