Tim Burton finds his Alice

Australian actress in final negotiations for 'Wonderland'

By Gregg Goldstein

July 23, 2008, 10:28 PM ET

NEW YORK -- Tim Burton and Disney have found their new Alice -- not in Wonderland or down the rabbit hole but Down Under.

Australian actress Mia Wasikowska is in final negotiations to walk through the looking glass in Burton's take on Lewis Carroll's classic fantasy novel "Alice in Wonderland." The deal marks the end of a long search for the big-budget project's title character.

The film, based on a script by Linda Woolverton ("The Lion King"), will be produced by longtime Burton collaborator Richard Zanuck, former Disney chairman Joe Roth and Jennifer and Suzanne Todd. It will be shot with live-action and performance-capture footage and presented in Disney Digital 3-D. Disney creative executive Jason Reed will oversee the project, set to begin principal photography in November.

Wasikowska got her start on the Aussie series "All Saints" and is a regular on HBO's "In Treatment." She next will appear opposite Daniel Craig in Ed Zwick's war drama "Defiance" and just completed filming the role of a young Amelia Earhart fan in Mira Nair's biopic "Amelia," starring Hilary Swank.

Wasikowska is repped by Endeavor and RGM Associates.

Tim Burton finds his Alice

Australian actress in final negotiations for 'Wonderland'

By Gregg Goldstein

July 23, 2008, 10:28 PM ET