This tweet from Steven Fry is the news. So, what else do you want me to write about it?

That Tim Burton is doing a motion-capture/live action remake of Alice In Wonderland from Disney? Or that we’ve covered it HERE,  HERE, HERE, HERE and more that you can easily find using the search feature?

I understand your need for opinions and whatnot, but considering Stephen Fry is one of the highest ranking Twitterati currently, I’m kind of wondering what took you guys so long to contact me about it?

J/K, lovers.

But if you don’t know what J/K is, I might not be.

Two items:

1) I’ve debated with some people if it will take the same amount of movies to convince theater owners to pick up 3D as it will to convince theaters to pick up IMAX 3D. I think that the division is going to be a finite ratio. Like, if it takes 8 movies (plus Avatar) to convince the money men to upgrade to 3D, it’s going to take 2.1 times that amount to get more IMAX investors to pull IMAX 3D. The real ratio is probably higher than 1:2.1, but the good news is that Alice In Wonderland will be getting and IMAX 3D release, before we even needed them to push the format.

2) If you want to see the trailer for the 3D Toy Story 3, and you want to see that trailer IN 3D, then there is only one place to check it out, and that’s during the re-issue double bill of Toy Story and Toy Story 2 in 3D from Pixar and Disney…

The press release (or the important parts):

Moviegoers are in for twice the fun and triple the thrills as The Walt Disney Studios prepares to debut the Disney Digital 3D(TM) versions of Disney-Pixar’s beloved animated features - “Toy Story” and “Toy Story 2″ - during a special limited engagement starting on October 2, 2009, it was announced today by Mark Zoradi, president, Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures Group.

This extraordinary double feature, taking the latest advances in digital 3D technology “to infinity and beyond,” will play exclusively in 3D. “Toy Story,” the industry’s first ever computer-animated feature and the first feature released by Pixar Animation Studios in 1995, and “Toy Story 2,” the critically acclaimed sequel that debuted in 1999, were both directed by Academy Award®-winning filmmaker John Lasseter. Both films have been meticulously re-rendered in 3D from the original digital files using the latest state-of-the-art technology.

Commenting on the announcement, Zoradi said, “This fantastic double feature will let moviegoers see two of their all-time favorite films from Pixar Animation Studios in a way that they’ve never seen them before, and all for the price of one movie ticket. John Lasseter and the animation team have truly created a spectacular 3D experience with Buzz, Woody, and all the toy characters in a whole new eye-popping dimension. We’re also excited that audiences will soon see a whole new chapter when Toy Story 3 in 3D, directed by Lee Unkrich (co-director of Toy Story 2) comes to theaters on June 18, 2010.”

These images are going to pop up from a few different places, but they are all going to look like this, because they are scanned out of Disney’s new magazine Disney Twenty-Three, which comes as part of the subscription package for D23, the fan group, described, a-like-a so:

D23 - Disney’s first official community for fans - celebrates the wonder and excitement that began in 1923 when Walt Disney opened his studio in Hollywood. Through the years, Disney’s stories, characters and experiences have captured the imagination of fans everywhere, and now D23 places you in the middle of the magic. Go backstage, behind closed doors, and get the inside scoop, while experiencing the nostalgia, adventure and fantasy of Disney as never before.

If that sounds like $75 worth of fun for you, you can sign up HERE. Otherwise, I’m fine stealing the scans from someone who paid to see a new image of Mia Wasikowska as Alice, plus some concept art of the tea party.

I’m out of coffee, which is important, but I told myself I’d write this before i went to get more coffee, because it’s going to be the story people are jumping on for the first few hours of the day, simply because it’s so ridiculous.

You might remember that Hasbro made a deal with Universal for the rights to all their games and stuff. Universal did this, even though the properties we’ve talk about thus far have been Ridley Scott’s possible Monopoly movie and the oft-rumored Ouija Board film, because Paramount and Dreamworks bought up the two really valuable Hasbro properties, GI Joe and Transformers, which just kicked our asses during the superbowl.

When I wrote about that deal, I specifically said: “Candy Land is going to blow unless Tim Burton abandons his Alice in Wonderland film for it.”

So, using that criteria, is Candy Land going to blow…?…

From Variety:

Universal Pictures is sweet on “Candy Land.”
Studio has set Etan Cohen to write and Kevin Lima to direct a live-action feature based on the enduring Hasbro board game.

Lima most recently directed the Amy Adams starrer “Enchanted” after helming the animated features “Tarzan” and “102 Dalmatians.” Cohen’s recent script work includes “Tropic Thunder” and “Madagascar 2,” and he most recently rewrote “The Fiance,” the Burr Steers-directed romantic comedy that will star Anne Hathaway.

Scripting Tropic Thunder and Madagascar 2 is the most mixed bag for Candy Land I can possibly think of. One was a profitable R-rated comedy that was hilarious, the other was a profitable children’s CG film that I only know things about because the 5 year old I sat next to during my last flight refused to babble about anything else.

You know what? Instead of just assuming this is going to be a sh*t project, I’m going to wait until a script exists. There’s still a chance Candy Land could prove to go beyond the obvious. I mean, who would have through that the Pirates of the Caribbean ride would become an enjoyable action trilogy?

But maybe I’m feeling nice because I’m under caffeinated.

It seems like last year, Johnny Depp was bounced around to a few unexpected projects. He spent some time filming Public Enemies (which we saw HERE), then jetted off to replace Heath Ledger, along with Jude Law and Golden Globe winner Colin Farrell in Terry Gillaim’s The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus. It seems like we heard that Tim Burton was going to be filming Alice In Wonderland for Disney mere weeks before he was actually filming it and Depp was on hand as The Mad Hatter (maybe first seen HERE).

That’s a lot of work, back and forth, from a guy who was exclusively Captain Jack Sparrow for a few years there.

Now, we’ve got a casting announcement that suggests Depp’s next project will be The Rum Diary, which would see him reprise his role from Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas and bring Hunter S. Thompson to screen once more…

The casting call is for Chenault, the love interest in The Rum Diary, who - from the casting info - seems to just be walking sex:

THE RUM DIARY (One Role) Feature Film
PRODUCTION COMPANIES: GK FILMS & INFINITUM NIHIL
UNION: SAG
Writer/Director: Bruce Robinson Based on the novel by Hunter S. Thompson
Casting Director: Denise Chamian
Casting Associate: Angela Demo
NY Casting Associate: Julie Schubert
Sounds steamy….

Casting Assistant: Krysti Charron

Start Date: March 2009

SUBMIT JULIE SCHUBERT TEL: XXX-XXX-XXXX

[PAUL KEMP] -Johnny Depp

SEEKING: [CHENAULT] A beautiful, 25 year old, translucent vision from Connecticut, with a killer smile and a wry, enigmatic personality, she wears barely-there sarongs, sunbathes nude, and oozes sexuality in everything she does. She enchants and mesmerizes Kemp from the moment they meet: while both escaping a tedious, high-end party. Chenault is dating and possibly engaged to Sanderson, but clearly feels an attraction to Kemp. She’s a daredevil who loves to dance and drive fast. She gets into big trouble with a lust-crazed, violent crowd during Carnival in St. Thomas. .. LEAD. This role contains nudity.

STORY LINE: 1960: Divorced alcoholic and struggling novelist PAUL KEMP decides to kick around San Juan until his ship comes in, working as a journalist for a daily newspaper that’s on its last legs, drinking gallons of rum and experimenting with LSD. With his new friend BOB SALA by his side, he becomes entangled in a corrupt hotel development scheme with a slick PR consultant named SANDERSON, and falls in love with Sanderson’s unattainable girlfriend, CHENAULT. . .

Paul Kemp is one of the alter egos of 22-year-old Hunter S. Thompson, and the one that Johnny Depp will be inhabiting for the film (Johnny Depp as 22? We’ll worry about that later).

Word on the production street is that Krysti Charron, the casting assistant is partial to Keira Knightley and Scarlett Johannson, but readings for this role will probably include a swath of relatively unknowns.

No one has yet been cast, but when they are, expect The Rum Diary to start spinning it’s wheels.

Johnny-Depp.org seems to have score the first look at Johnny Depp as The Mad Hatter in Tim Burton’s 3-D Alice and Wonderland remake for Disney.

Looks like Depp is going to veer Disney into the weird again, though they’re probably less nervous after the last time (Disney execs didn’t like Depp’s Jack Sparrow character…until it made them millions). Not to mention, this is the first real look we’ve had at Wonderland through the eyes of Tim Burton, since all the photos we’ve seen previously have been of the “real world” Alice.

What we know so far is that Mia Wasikowska is Alice in Tim Burton’s 3-D/Motion Capture version of the Disney Classic. Johnny Depp is on as The Mad Hatter, Helena Bonham Carter will be “offing” their heads as the Red Queen. Anne Hathaway is on as the White Queen, Martin Sheen will be the Cheshire Cat, Matt Lucas (of Little Britain) will be Tweedledee and Tweedledum, and Crisipin Glover is the Knave of Hearts.

But these two new additions to the cast have us ready to fall into the rabbit hole, and not in a red pill/blue pill way…

That is correct!

Christopher Lee has joined as a as-of-now unknown role while Alan Rickman has joined up as The Caterpillar.

ROCK!