A Return to Wonderland?

I’m usually against remakes of absolutely classic books or films, ones that were done well enough the first time around that they have entered the collective consciousness and shouldn’t be messed with (see Burton & Depp’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory). But the following strikes me as a possible boon for one of my all-time favorite tales:

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Fanning Takes Shot at 'Alice' Adaptations

By Chris Gardner

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Dakota Fanning could soon be slipping on Alice's shoes and heading off to Lewis Carroll's magical Wonderland.

The young actress is close to a deal to star in her own potential franchise in adaptations of Carroll's "Alice in Wonderland" and "Through the Looking Glass" for DreamWorks.

Scribe Les Bohem came up with the idea to adapt Carroll's classic novels and immediately pitched it to DreamWorks principal Steven Spielberg with Fanning in mind to play Alice. The trio worked together on Spielberg's miniseries "Taken" for Sci Fi Channel. Spielberg created the series, which Bohem wrote and in which Fanning starred.

But Bohem's history with Carroll's work goes deeper than just a quickie notion for a live-action remake. Bohem said his mother had "the premiere collection of Alice books in the United States. I grew up loving it and buried in it. My mother would collect any edition -- she even had one in Swahili. It was all there my whole life and so right in my face, but it never really occurred to me to think, 'How about a movie with Alice?"'

Bohem said he and his wife recently read both books -- "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" and "Through the Looking Glass" -- to their 8-year-old son and that got him thinking about it again.

"There have been cool versions of it before but never with the capabilities (we have today) to do the effects, and now, finally, there are ways to create a vision that does justice to Carroll's boundless imagination."

Carroll's characters in "Alice" -- the Mad Hatter, the Cheshire Cat, the Queen of Hearts, the Caterpillar and the famous White Rabbit -- have made it to the screen many times, most notably in the Walt Disney Co.'s animated 1951 film as well as a live-action version in 1933 from Paramount Pictures. More recently, Hallmark Entertainment and NBC teamed for a 1999 television special that featured Tina Majorino as Alice.

For DreamWorks' version, Bohem will adapt both books for the big screen as separate features and plans to stick extremely closely to Carroll's original work.

"These are two great books with two fabulous stories," he said. "But most of the time, they get cobbled together, and we plan to stay faithful to the books and each story."

The deal marks Fanning's second straight project for DreamWorks. She recently left for the South, where she is in training for her role opposite Kurt Russell in the studio's horse drama "The Dreamer." She was most recently in theaters with the Denzel Washington thriller "Man on Fire."

As for his late mother's collection of Carroll books, Bohem said she donated it two years ago to Fresno State University, where it's soon to be on display.

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First of all, Fanning is a genius. Much like Haley Joel Osment, she is plainly wise beyond her years. I could see her perfectly embodying the curiosity and precociousness of Alice.

Secondly, this writer/producer clearly “gets” the import of the material. He’s correct in that no proper, true-to-the-text retelling of the original two books has been told on film, at least not in a successful mainstream fashion.

As far as I know, Carroll’s two Alice works are the most prolifically adapted in the history of filmmaking – there are simply countless remakes in various styles from all over the world. Still, I have never seen a faithful adaptation done well. Would love to see someone get it right after all these years.