Despite rumours that she’s been dumped in favour of Lost’s Maggie Grace, Sarah Michelle Gellar insists she's still in pole position to play the title character in the movie adaptation of American McGee’s cult computer game, Alice.
One of a whole raft of Lewis Carroll adaptations in the offing (including a motion-capture 3D effort from Tim Burton, a family-friendly version with Dakota Fanning and what is sure to be a twisted nightmarish vision from Marilyn Manson), SMG’s punt sits on the darker side of the fence.
Talking to Radio Free, the former Buffy, said: “It's a passion project of mine. It's a story that I'd love to see. I'm fearful at this rate that I'm going to be the Queen of Hearts because I'm going to be too old to be Alice.
“It's something I'd really like to see done. And unfortunately, it was the victim of regime change in the studio. And I'm not getting out. And contrary to what you may have read, it's still my project.”
Still languishing in production hell, the story takes place ten years after Alice’s first encounter with the freaky denizens of Wonderland. She's spent time in an asylum, her home has been destroyed and her entire family killed. Returning to the world of Wonderland, she soon discovers that it has faired little better, becoming a dark and sinister image of the world we all remember.
There’s still no news on when (or, indeed, if) this project is likely to get off the ground but if we’ve got a choice between Sarah and Dakota, we reckon we’ll plump for the former.