'Malice in Sunderland' Gets Kicked Out of Its Location & Gets a New Title

Malice won't have its way with Sunderland anymore. The BBC reports that the upcoming, and long-delayed new take on Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland, Malice in Sunderland, will not be filmed on Wearside, and it has got a new name -- Malice in Wonderland.

The film was hoping for a £250,000 bit of cash from the area, but the region's film group said that their cash goes to talent from the region. So, with that hefty bit of change biting the dust, the film will now be shot in the Southend with a new title. However, producer Albert Martinez-Martin says that the name change is only due to the play on words: "The title was also changed as everyone in the UK would know Sunderland but outside UK they wouldn't. I also thought two puns in one title were one too many." Do you really need to know what Sunderland is to enjoy, or recognize the title?
Anyhow, if you have been reading the site for a while, you may remember this film from news that hit all the way back in November of 2006. Even through the delays, the film has been lucky -- Mischa Barton is still attached, as is director Simon Fellows. The old OC star will play an American student named Alice who gets hit by a taxi, and finds herself in a strange world (which was once Sunderland). "In order for her to find her way home, Alice is forced to navigate a strange and fantastic world of quirky characters and precarious situations."

Now if only the film can get its butt into production...