So the Alice in Wonderland saga continues… Nearly two weeks ago we reported on how Disney upset UK cinemas by announcing that they want to release Alice in Wonderland on DVD just 12 weeks after its cinema release date. After this announcement major UK chains Odeon and Vue  pulled trailers and posters from their cinemas and stopped taking bookings for the film. However Cineworld, being a publicly run company, kept schtum. So last week when Disney tried to manipulate the media into thinking Cineworld had reversed a decision it had never made in the first place by issuing a press statement to confirm that Cineworld are definitely showing the film. This was done to try and coerce Odeon and Vue to decide to show the film but as the film is still not on release until 5th March there is still plenty of real negotiating time on the table, although obviously the cinemas will have lost out on a lot of pre-sales.

Today the story takes another turn as Odeon have confirmed that they have still not reached an agreement with Disney and despite the fact that Cineworld confirmed they will be showing the film apparently because Dinsey said the 12 week release window will not become commonplace Odeon are refusing to show the film as they believe it will let Disney set a precedent which they will then repeat. However apparently an agreement has been made between Vue and Disney so it is only Odeon who are refusing to show the film. Imax bookings for the film opened this week and crashed the BFI site almost immediately andmeanwhile  other chains like City Screen are already taking advance booking cashing on peoples worries they won’t be able to see the film elsewhere. However there are still nearly two weeks before it’s release date so it wont be surprising if Odeon do eventually concede. Watch this space for more develepments!