Video game designer American McGee is very much a self-made man... After surviving a
less than idyllic childhood, McGee dropped out of high school and found himself employed
in a series of uncreative day-jobs. Following a stint as a mechanic McGee became neighbours
with the founder of ID Software and was offered a position as a tech support worker before
quickly rising to Level Designer and Music Manager.
As McGee advanced he worked on the titles; 'Doom', 'Quake' and 'Quake 2'
He was then unfairly dismissed from the company, and... as one door closed another door opened...
McGee would find himself employed at Electronic Arts with a role as Creative Director.
During this time, when looking to develop a game of his own creation, McGee was eager
to go in the opposite direction of 'Space Marines fighting Space Aliens on a Space Station
with Space guns in Space', and began work on a concept that would continue the story
first told in Lewis Carrol's Alice In Wonderland, except this Alice would be a haunted and damaged
version of the girl from the classic children's adventure This time around the underworld
dreamscape of Wonderland would be a hostile and broken terrain through which Alice must
navigate.
McGee would explore the idea during a period of pre-production, working with artists on
designs for the characters and landscapes. Before its release, the game would become
one of EA's most anticipated titles as a genuine buzz spread throughout the PC community.
Meanwhile, Collision Entertainment, a joint venture of film producers; Paul Rosenberg
and Scott Faye, were visiting the Electronic Arts Headquarters with regards to adapting
a video-game title. The pair were already developing 'Max Payne' into a movie with Dimension
Studios. Faye was already a friend of McGee's and went
to his office. When Faye and his associates saw the 'Alice' concept art and character
models they instantly thought it was something special.
Meanwhile, Paul Rosenberg would introduce rising screenwriter John August to McGee.
August at that point had only written the movie 'Go' - perhaps the last great movie
of the 1990s - and McGee and August would hit it off.
August would see the work McGee was doing on 'Alice' and describe it as 'dark and spectacular'.
Two hours after meeting, the pair had conceived of how the story could be handled on film
and they hurriedly pitched a take to horror legend Wes Craven.
Craven said yes and agreed to direct.
McGee was asked in the press whether reports of 'American McGee's Alice' were to be made
into a movie were correct. McGee replied,
''... Yep, that's true. There's a company called Collision Entertainment who have acquired
the rights from EA, they're working for Dimension Films, who have Wes Craven in to direct, and
John August is involved as a writer and they're actually working on the script right now.
It's going to be very interesting.''
The coupling of Craven and McGee's Alice sounded an ideal match. The college professor turned
film-director made his name writing and directing horror films that he would refer to as ''Fairy
Tales For The Apocalypse''. 1984's ''A Nightmare On Elm Street'' introduced
the world to Freddy Krueger as Craven used the dreamworld to explore the notion of confronting
one's own fears to overcome them, as the children of Elm Street are forced to pay the ultimate
price for the sins of the parents. In the 1990s Craven would work with Miramax's
Dimension Films on the smash-hit genre-reinventing 'Scream' franchise and Dimension were hoping
Craven could work his magic yet again with Alice. .
McGee would later recall how when they first showed the game trailer to Dimension head
Bob Weinstein, Weinstein slammed his fist down on the desk and said ''We are making
this movie!''
Although, Weinstein wanted the movie released within a year and was immediately looking
to lighten the tone a little as to broaden the age range of the audience.
John August was already committed to writing other scripts, but agreed to write a full
treatment which would contain a detailed overview of the characters, the story and the world.
The producers and McGee liked it although August would say that Craven didn't.
August would later say, ''... When it came time to meet with Miramax...
it became clear that the studio loved the project but wanted a script a lot sooner than
I would be able to deliver, seeing as I was busy writing Big Fish and two other movies.
I agreed to write a twenty-page treatment instead, fleshing out the characters and the
plot. Once I turned that in, my involvement in the project was effectively over.''
That brings us to the end of 2001 and the start of 2002...
With August unattached, screenwriting brothers Jon and Erich Hoeber were hired to write the
full first draft for Craven.
McGee's plot, that Craven and the screenwriters would adapt and build upon, is as such...
Not too long following Alice's return from the miraculous trip through the Looking-Glass,
her family home in Oxford was burnt down, and her parents died in the fire.
Alice was the only survivor of the terrible accident and suffers a mental breakdown. The
resulting dissociative amnesia renders Alice in a state where she is unable to remember
the details of her family s death. The ensuing trauma and guilt leads to repeated
attempts at taking her own life. Alice is then committed to a mental asylum
and many years slowly pass before an adult Alice is given her old cuddly rabbit toy by
a nurse. The rabbit starts to speak and Alice is summoned
to return to the surreal, underground universe within her imagination.
However, things have changed somewhat since her last visit as a young girl... In Alice's
absence, Wonderland is no longer the irrational yet whimsical childhood labyrinth... Instead,
this damaged and twisted Wonderland has been taken over by dark and maniacal forces governed
by the Queen of Hearts. The fact that Alice's fantasy dreamscape has
decayed into evil is a direct reflection of Alice's disturbed headspace.
If Alice is to ever confront her fears and restore her sanity and peace of mind, she
must battle her way through an unhinged and deranged Wonderland filled with all manner
of familiar eccentrics and oddballs. In McGee's own words, the emotions created by that event
- The internal rage, guilt and sadness, take form in Wonderland, personified through characters
like the Mad Hatter and Queen of Hearts. If Alice loses in the battle against these emotions,
she'll not only lose her sanity, but be lobotomized and remain locked within the asylum for the
rest of her life. She knows there's a greater mystery to be solved, but the immediate problem
is to escape from her mental and physical imprisonment.
Given the fact that Lewis Carrol's original work is in the public domain, the filmmakers
aimed for the script to blend the spirit of the original 1865 text with McGee s unique
vision of the mythology to create a compelling story for cinema.
Artistically and thematically the producers were looking to explore the nature of emotional
instability and the experience of an individual whose day-to-day existence proves a challenge,
and the absolute need on the part of this person to gain a foothold in a more universally
shared reality in order to save herself.
Producer Scott Faye revealed that the screenplay would heavily borrow elements from the game,
but that the 'Alice' narrative didn't possess all the requisite elements to establish a
straight linear approach and so they would build upon many character and plot elements
McGee employed in the game, but would augment or create new additional elements.
Craven gave an interview to Sci-Fi Wire Magazine and would speak about 'Alice', saying,
''... Everything that we can take from the game, we will steal, and then we ll bring
even more to it. I m sure this will be a big CGI picture, and we ll try to duplicate as
much of the sort of wonder part of the Wonderland as we can. It s a little darker, got a lot
more edge, so it s kind of like Wonderland seen through the eyes of post-21st-century
America. Bob Weinstein was hoping for a PG-13. We ll see.''
Unbeknownst to the public at the time, Craven was in the very early stages of his battle
against cancer, and according to McGee this is what would derail the project and lead
to Craven taking no further part in development.
Once the three-year option expired at Dimension studios, the project was passed along to 20th
Century Fox and then eventually to Universal pictures.
German director Marcus Nispel was briefly attached before leaving to pursue a remake
of 'Friday the 13th' and while no potential casting choices were ever formally disclosed
there were various rumours suggesting Natalie Portman would be ideal to play the title character
and a little later various news outlets ran with articles that stated Sarah Michelle Gellar
was on board to star and produce the film... It was later understood that Gellar's involvement
stemmed from her management pursuing the role on their client's behalf and ultimately, this
became another story that amounted to nothing.
As of today in 2023, the rights to 'American McGee's Alice' along with its 2011 sequel
'Alice: Madness Returns' have been secured by Radar Pictures to make a television series
with David Hayter on board as showrunner and writer.
Hayter told The Hollywood Reporter, ''...It takes you into the heart of a corrupted
Wonderland and throws light into shadowy corners the world has never seen. I am beyond excited
to bring this world of madness and wonder to a global audience.''
As for the type of film Wes Craven was looking to make In what seemed like an ideal marriage
of intelligent filmmaker and dark source material.. one can only imagine.
The iconic and much-loved director would pass away in 2015 and McGee would express his condolences
and say, ''... I didn t know him well, but did have
the pleasure of working with him in the early stages of ''Alice'' feature film development...
Here s hoping Wes has gone to a better Wonderland...''
Thanks for watching!