Mischa Barton’s Malice in Sunderland, a reinvention of Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland from director Simon Fellows, has switched locations due to a £250,000 shortfall in funds, reports the BBC. The film will now shoot in Southend, with producer Albert Martinez-Martin revealing: “There is no problem with Sunderland at all, the reasons being we have been looking at locations which are offering help in terms of funding. “There is about £250,000 which we have lined up from Screen East in Southend and we are looking at locations there right now.” Producer Martinez-Martin added that the film has changed its name to Malice in Wonderland to appeal to a worldwide audience. “Everyone in the UK would know Sunderland but outside the UK they wouldn’t. I also thought two puns in one title were one too many.” Barton, known for playing Marissa Cooper in The OC, will star as a student who wakes up in a strange city after being hit by a taxi. Tom Harvey, chief executive of Northern Film and Media, said he was “very sad” that the movie wouldn’t film on Wearside. “We have over £1 million to spend but that goes on local people. In this region talent that lives and works here is more important than production companies coming in,” Harvey said.