UK: "Alice in Wonderland" has it's Royal World Premiere in London as last minute deal prevents cinema boycott of the film

Record ID: 218822

  • Title: UK: "Alice in Wonderland" has it's Royal World Premiere in London as last minute deal prevents cinema boycott of the film
  • Date: 26th February 2010
  • Summary: LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (FEBRUARY 25, 2010) (REUTERS) (*** FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY ***) TIM BURTON ON PREMIERE CARPET (SOUNDBITE) (English) DIRECTOR TIM BURTON, ON ODEON CINEMAS DECIDING NOT TO BOYCOTT THE FILM, SAYING: "No it's the way the film should be seen so I'm very grateful it happy that it worked out." CROWD IN RAIN (SOUNDBITE) (English) DIRECTOR TIM BURTON SAYING: "Well that's the reason I wanted to do the movie because I felt the medium and the material seemed to fit, you know? 3D and Wonderland seemed to go together for me."
  • Embargoed: 13th March 2010 12:00
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  • Reuters ID: LVAEPLLQ54BROVISI0P6ZA2OQJXW
  • Story Text: The show must go on: a relieved cast and crew of Disney's "Alice in Wonderland" attended the film's Royal World Premiere on Thursday (February 25), after news of a deal saving the film from being boycotted by the UK's biggest cinema chain, Odeon.
    Odeon had threatened not to show the film in its UK, Irish and Italian theatres because of Disney's plan to shorten the standard 17-week window between the film's theatre debut and its DVD release to 12 weeks.
    Odeon's concession follows similar deals by the UK's Cineworld Cinemas and Vue Entertainment chains in recent days.
    Neither Disney or Odeon have revealed details of the agreement.
    Director Tim Burton said he was just relieved that audiences will see the 3D extravaganza on the big screen for full effect.
    "It's the way the film should be seen so I'm very grateful it happy that it worked out," he told Reuters Television at the rain-soaked premiere. "That's the reason I wanted to do the movie because I felt the medium and the material seemed to fit, you know? 3D and Wonderland seemed to go together for me."
    "Alice" producer, Jo Roth, was also relieved - but added he felt that Odeon could have picked a better time to raise the issue.
    "I've never been in a situation like this. It would have been better, I think, if they had talked about it three months ago, or maybe three months from now, but to have it just on the eve of the premiere was very dicey," he said Frequent collaborators, Hollywood superstar Johnny Depp and director Tim Burton, have teamed up once again for the major studio production - a 3D re-imagining of the classic 1865 novel written by English author Charles Lutwidge Dodgson under the pseudonym Lewis Carroll.
    In the film, an older Alice returns to Wonderland, her previous visit to the fantastic world forgotten as a childhood dream.
    Johnny Depp stars as The Mad Hatter and said he jumped at the chance to develop the iconic character - and work with Tim Burton again.
    "I had a ball you know? I mean, Tim calls me and asks if I play the character and I immediately said yes. I wanted to find a way to do something that I thought was a bit different, that maybe hadn't been done before, it was a great challenge, he said. "So, yeah, it was a gas. For me it was just a ball. but any time I go to work with Tim, you know, is always the best pleasure there is."
    The Hollywood heartthrob was greeted by hundreds screaming fans, some of whom had waited - often in the rain - for up to twenty-four hours just for a chance to a glimpse of their idol.
    "In Alice in Wonderland" Burton's wife, Helena Bonham Carter, plays The Red Queen, who has conquered all of Wonderland, inflicting misery on everyone around her.
    With the help of some special effects Burton gave the British actress a grossly oversized head in the film.
    The director explained why his wife was right for the role of a bobble-headed, universally hated tyrant
    "Well, because it comes easy to her. Don't tell her I said that," he joked.
    Luckily, Bonham Carter took it as a compliment
    "I love it when her deforms me. I mean I like to be deformed, too. I'm not interested in looking like me or love the fact that he asks me to change what I look like. I feel really honoured and also really honoured that I still figure in his imaginative world, landscape. And he knows me back to front so I think, yeah, great," Bonham Carter explained.
    Australian newcomer Mia Wasikowska plays Alice in her biggest role to date.
    "It was great. I mean she's such a loved character by so many people and generations so to actually have the chance to bring her back again and explore her as an older character with Tim was incredible," said Wasikowska who is set to play Jane Eyre on the big screen next year.
    Fans at Thursday's event also got a their celebrity dose from a cast which included Hollywood actress Anne Hathaway, British stars Alan Rickman, Michael Sheen, Christopher Lee, and Matt Lucas, and Canadian singer Avril Lavigne who performs the film's theme song, "Alice."
    Prince Charles of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall also attended the premiere, meeting the director and his cast ahead of the screening.
    "Alice in Wonderland" hits UK cinemas - including Odeon theatres - on March 5.
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