It’s slated to release sometime next year, but some production art and headshots of characters have creeped out online over time, especially in the last day or two.
And if you’re wondering… Yes, it is most certainly steeped in Tim Burton’s classic vision of the fantastic.
And yes, the image to the left is Johnny Depp as The Mad Hatter.
And, again, yes — it is downright creepy!
If you want to check out some other info, a USA Today article offers some concept art and details some of the story here. And some other production stills are available at Yahoo! here.
The one thing you can always count on with a story that has been Burtonized: his ideas will stretch far into a direction you never considered. At minimum, even if the story isn’t especially compelling, he will always create a visually arresting world that you can’t help but look at.
What do THH patrons think?
(HT to Quint @ Ain’t it Cool News)
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I think there is some kind of competition amongst actors of a certain calibre – Johnny Depp, Daniel Day Lewis and, before he died, Heath Ledger – to immerse themselves in characters so perversely unsympathetic that no trace of their real personality remains. I suspect that it’s a rebellion against their good looks: each has been described as a character actor in the body of a movie star.
Red, that’s an interesting idea. Of course, if you’re DDL, the Academy Awards tend to hurl Oscar noms your way if you do so.
Too, in order to be taken seriously, many actors that look like Johnny Depp or Heath Ledger feel compelled to downplay their looks. Fair or not, there’s certainly an impression that you can be beautiful and successful, but rarely beautiful and “artistic.” It’s as if the actor’s looks supersede their character.
How can anyone improve on John Tenniel?
Really, when you think of Tim Burton doing this movie, can you think of anyone else at all that he would use for the Mad Hatter? That part just begs for Depp.
I’m thinking the last Tim Burton movie I liked was Beetlejuice. And I’ve never been a big Depp fan.
Plus, the last version of Alice in Wonderland I enjoyed was Tom Petty’s music video “Don’t Come Around Here No More.”
Burton’s just too weird for my taste. Big Fish was ok, but I really haven’t enjoyed much else.
Charlie and Chocolate Factory captures the spirit of the book better then the early ’70s Gene Wilder version. The Oompa Loompa songs rock. Still pretty weird in places though.
Okay, so I guess Burton’s weirdness, multiplied by Johnny Depp’s awesomeness just has me way excited for this. The only Burton film I refuse to watch is Planet of the Apes.
The rest are imaginary genius in my book!
Sleepy Hollow is wickedly spooky.
Edward Scissorhands is heartbreaking and poignant.
Sweeney Todd is gory, but somehow beautiful.
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is a sugary confection of weirdness.
Mars Attacks is wonderfully satirical.
Ed Wood is one of the funniest movies I’ve ever seen, second possibly only to The Big Lebowski.
He was responsible for the only good Batman film until Christopher Nolan came along.
And do I really need to bring up Peewee’s Big Adventure?
Yeah…I’m a fan…
The only other director I would trust a story like Alice to is Guillermo del Toro. Pan’s Labyrinth is his own fairytale opus. He would also do a brilliant adaptation of Lewis Carroll’s work.
I’m more into Johnny Depp than Tim Burton whose vision I find beautiful but chilling. My favorite Burton is an old one: Edward Scissorhands and even that I like for aesthetic reasons rather than emotional ones. And he certainly seems to bring out the psycho-weird in Depp.
But if Ed Wood is as funny as you say, then I definitely have to give it a try. Because The Big Lebowski is in my list of top 5 funniest movies ever. Maybe top 3.
And of course I’ll go see Burton’s Alice, what with Bonham-Carter playing the Red Queen, and Anne Hathaway playing the White Queen, how could I miss it?
Red, Martin Landau won an Oscar for his portrayal of Bela Lugosi. One scene in particular, involving a drunken Lugosi and a giant octopus, gave me and my friends comedic fodder for years afterward.
It’s better in the context of the film, but here’s the scene from YouTube (because everything’s on YouTube). I will warn you, there is a bit of language:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ZbLFXqhbQM
Watched the clip. Found it tragi-comic rather than comic, mainly due to Landau’s battered dignity as the old actor. Enjoyed watching Lugosi taking stock of the indignity of the situation, and deciding if he had it in him to actually do what was required.
Would appreciate it if someone puts up more posts pronto, because staring at Depp’s demented Hatter is beginning to get to me. His eyes look crazy.
Red, if you want to look at something different, click my name to go read my review of Transformers 2!