Good news for those living in the UK. Two days ago we heard that the largest cinema chain in the UK, Odeon, would be boycotting Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland because of Disney’s plan to release the DVD 12 weeks after the theatrical release, instead of the usual 17 weeks. Well now they’ve decided not too after coming to an agreement with Disney.

From the BBC:

“The Odeon and UCI Cinema Group is pleased to announce that, following detailed negotiations with the Walt Disney Company Ltd, an enduring agreement has been reached encompassing all the different aspects of both companies’ commercial relationship.

“As a result of this agreement, Odeon is pleased to confirm that it will be able to continue with its plans for significant investment in new cinemas, in digital technology, in 3D capability and the other exciting developments designed for the increased enjoyment of all its customers.”

Neither side would disclose terms of the agreement, but the Cineworld and Vue cinema chains, which will also be screening the film, had previously agreed to a 13-week gap between opening night and the DVD release.

If you heard over to the BBC article you will be able to see an interview with director Tim Burton. In it he says he asked Disney why they had decided to undertake this ‘12 week release experiment’ with his movie. The interview was conducted before the agreement today, so he’ll probably be feeling happy about it now. I suppose the controversy gave the film free publicity, so it should do well in the UK.

Alice in Wonderland will be release just about everywhere on March 5th.

If you’ve been following the Alice in Wonderland/UK cinemas situation over the past few weeks you will know that cinema chains in the UK were threatening to boycott Alice in Wonderland because of Disney’s plan to release the DVD 12 weeks after the theatrical release, instead of the usual 17 weeks window.

Yesterday it was announced that the 2nd largest cinema chain, Vue, would be releasing the film after striking a deal with Disney. However Odeon, the UK’s largest cinema chain, will not be releasing the film in the UK, Irish Republic or Italy. Considering Alice in Wonderland has strong British roots and is well known by all ages the film was expected to make around £40 million ($62 million) in the UK, so it’ll be interesting to see how this boycott will impact its box office return.

Luckily for me there are a number of different cinemas where I live so I won’t have any trouble seeing it, however I’m sure there will be a few poor souls who will have to travel that bit further to see Tim Burton’s wacky take on Wonderland.

Click here to check out Filmonic’s Alice in Wonderland gallery!

There is just over two weeks to go before we recieve an invitiation for a very important date with a rabbit hole and Tim Burton’s wacky imagination. Disney has already provided us with trailers, posters and images, so now it’s time for the behind the scenes featurettes. The one below features brief interviews with Johnny Depp, Mia Wasikowska, Anne Hathaway and Helena Bonham Carter, along with quite a lot of new footage playing in the background.

Earlier this week we heard that UK cinema chains Odeon, Vue and Cineworld (who combined represent 95% of UK 3D screens) may boycott the film due to a dispute with Disney over the DVD release window. Since then Cineworld has struck a deal with Disney after distribution chiefs Bob Chapek and Chuck Viane flew to the UK to try and sort the issue out. However, it looks like they may have to rack up more air miles as cinema owners in Belgium, the Netherlands and Italy have also declared their intention to boycott the film.

Alice in Wonderlandmay or may not be released on March 5th…depending on where you are on Earth.

According to Deadline Hollywood, IESB and Variety all is not well in Spideyland. Sony and the team were originally aiming to start filming in February/March, however according to their sources some people are not happy with the script, such as director Sam Raimi, and filming will most likely be pushed back until it can be sorted. Alvin Sargent who worked on the second and third films is the latest writer to work on the script, following David Koepp, James Vanderbilt and Gary Ross.

The problems apparently surround the villain(s). We heard around a month ago that John Malkovitch was in talks to play The Vulture, and Anne Hathaway was negotiating to play The Vulturess (or something like that).

Raimi is insisting that John Malkovich play the villain, so that won’t change. But I do hear that it’s now unlikely Anne Hathaway will be cast. “I’m not so sure we’re going in that direction,” an insider told me recently. Sony had been hot for her until bigwigs realized she’d cost too much and they probably don’t need “such a big star” for the pic, I’m told.

Spider-Man 4’s release date is still May 2011, however the longer it takes to sort out the script and get cameras rolling, the likelihood that the release is pushed back increases.

Sam Raimi knows what mistakes were made regarding the villains in Spider-Man 3, so pushing the films back a few months will be worth it if we get a film better than the last outing, with less overcrowding in the villain department.

The first teaser trailer for Alice in Wonderland was great in it’s own way, however now Disney has released a brand new trailer and it is a whole lot better. We see a lot more of Wonderland (which is visual stunning thanks to Mr. Tim Burton) and we finally hear The Cheshire Cat, voiced by Stephen Fry.

Alice in Wonderland stars Johnny Depp, Mia Wasikowska, Helena Bonham Carter, Anne Hathaway, Alan Rickman, Matt Lucas, Stephen Fry and Sir Christopher Lee, and will be released next March.

Update: A new UK trailer has arrived and it is around 30 seconds longer than the trailer above!

We have some new Spider-Man 4 rumours today courtesy of Movieline who say that John Malkovitch is in talks to play The Vulture and Anne Hathaway, who was apparently in talks with producers last month, will play The Vulturess.

The Vulture has the ability to fly due to wings which are attached to him via a harness. He also uses these wings as weapons to attack his foes, such as Spider-Man. The Vulture was originally going to be in Spider-Man 3 and Sir Ben Kingsley was apparently confirmed for the role, however the powers that be wanted Venom in the film so the character was cut. Personally, I would prefer The Lizard as the main villain, but I suppose The Vulture would be cool too.

…The Vulturess on the other hand is what will annoy Spider-Man fans if this turns out to be true. A few weeks ago actresses such as Rachel McAdams, Julia Stiles and Anne Hathaway were rumoured to be in talks to play Felicia Hardy aka Black Cat. However, according to Movieline Felicia Hardy does not turn into Black Cat in the film, she becomes a new made up character called The Vulturess, who one can assume is the daughter of The Vulture.

None of this is confirmed so take it with a pinch of salt for now. Personally I don’t think there is much truth to it, but we’ll probably get confirmation one way or the other soon.

First Rachel McAdams, then Julia Stiles, and now Anna Hathaway. Over the past few weeks we’ve been hearing that they’ve all apparently been talking/emailing/calling/communicating in some form with producers/casting people/Sam Raimi regarding a role in Spider-Man 4. This one comes from Nikki Finke who say that “producers have approached Anne Hathaway to star in the film”, however she doesn’t know for what role.

Since the first bit of casting news it was assumed the role was for Black Cat, and with the actresses we’ve been hearing about it seems that may be the case. They wouldn’t be talking to people like Hathaway and Stiles if the role wasn’t important, and Black Cat seems to be the only important female left to bring in after Gwen Stacy.

Will we hear about any more actresses in the near future? Who’s your choice to play Black Cat?

Disney have decided they’ve had enough providing us with weird and wonderful images of Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter and will be releasing the teaser trailer for Alice in Wonderland this week! However, there is a catch. If you want to see it before anyone else you have to join one of three Facebook groups by Thursday, July 23, at 7pm EST.

The Loyal Subjects of the Red Queen

The Loyal Subjects of the White Queen

The Disloyal Subjects of the Mad Hatter

The fan page with the most followers at 4pm on July 24th gets first look at the teaser trailer. The Mad Hatter is currently in the lead by a wide margin (I hope Anne Hathaway and Helena Bonham Carter don’t take it personally) so if you want to see the teaser early I suggest you join that one.

However, if you aren’t a fan of falling prey to studio marketing gimmicks then just wait a little while longer and it will pop up on Youtube eventually. You will also find it embedded here, so check back Friday!

Empire received four new images from Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland. I think I’ve seen a few of them online before, but these are in far better quality. The image above shows Anne Hathaway as The White Queen holding a dormouse. Hathaway has described her character as “cute but psycho” and that she also doesn’t walk, “she floats. She’s very eccentric and over dramatic, and just as mad in her way as the Hatter”. Empire give as example of her madness by saying “she seems to live her life backwards (screaming before she’s injured etc) she’s a little odd, to say the least.”

Click here to see more images of Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter, Helena Bonham-Carter as the Red Queen holding a pig, and Mia Wasikowska as Alice.

Anne Hathaway and Helena Bonham Carter have joined the cast of Alice in Wonderland, according to THR. Most people were expecting Carter to land a role in the film, considering she has been in every Tim Burton film since 2001 and is living with the guy. She will play the Red Queen, who banishes her sister, the White Queen, played by Anne Hathaway.

THR claims that in Burton’s adaptation, the White Queen needs Alice to slay the Bandersnatch, a fictional creature mentioned in Lewis Carroll’s poems Jabberwocky and The Hunting of the Snark.

No word yet on whether the actresses will be seen as live-action or performance capture characters. Johnny Depp will be playing The Mad Hatter in performance capture mode, so other characters could get the same treatment.