As it's one of only 13 films to break one billion dollars globally (and seven of those films came out after it was released), Disney is moving forward with a sequel to Tim Burton's 2010 smash Alice in Wonderland.
The Mouse House has hired its longtime writing collaborator Linda Woolverton, who wrote the first film, to work on the sequel. Woolverton helped writer Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King back in the day. She also wrote the book for the Alice in Wonderland stage musical in development that will be based on the film.
Considering its mammoth success, you might have thought Disney already put a sequel in motion, but the critical reception did not match the box office one. Other than some Oscar-winning production value (it won for Best Art Direction and Best Costumes), it fell way short for most, including us. Also, Alice was released under the perfect storm of conditions, as it was the first major film to be released in 3D after Avatar. A repeat of that box office success would be highly unlikely.
Disney has a lot of big-budget family fantasy films coming down the pipeline that will serve as a good gauge as to whether Alice in Wonderland 2 could be successful at the box office. Considering the release window and mention of Alice in the trailer, many have compared the visuals of next March's Oz the Great and Powerful to Alice. Also, Alice production designer Robert Stromberg has his directorial debut, Maleficent, a riff on Sleeping Beauty, lined up for March 2014.
The studio also has a live-action Cinderella is currently casting and is developing Peter and the Starcatchers, based on the popular Broadway play, takes a similar approach to the story of Peter Pan. With all these projects, it looks as though Disney plans to dominate March for a long time to come.
If all moves along from this point forward, a 2015 or 2016 release for Alice in Wonderland 2 would be the most likely scenario. No word if Tim Burton has even the slightest bit of interest in directing the sequel.
