After decades of giving princesses the spotlight, now Disney appears to be on a mission to highlight some of their greatest animated villains. Next year we will get to see the untold story behind Sleeping Beauty when Angelina Jolie puts on the pointy hat of the title character in Maleficent, and today The Hollywood Reporter has learned that the studio is generating yet another antagonist-based live-action movie and are now moving forward with Cruella, a film about the evil Cruella de Vil of 101 Dalmatians.
Aline Brosh McKenna, who also wrote the script for the upcoming Kenneth Branagh-directed adaptation of Cinderella, has been hired to write the script for the movie, though at this time all story details are being kept under wraps. First created in Dodie Smith's 1956 novel "The Hundred and One Dalmatians," Cruella de Vil is a fashion-obsessed woman who will do just about anything to get a fur coat made out of dalmatian fur. This won't be the first time that the character has appeared in a live-action film, as she was portrayed by Glenn Close in the 1996 Stephen Herek movie with Jeff Daniels, Joely Richardson and Hugh Laurie. Take a walk down memory lane with the video below.
While I assume Cruella will ultimately paint the titular character as the villain that she is, I'm honestly curious how this movie will get the audience to sympathize with her as a main character in any way. After all, this is a woman who tries extremely hard to try and kill newborn puppies so that she can have them skinned and draped on her back. It's going to be a sincere challenge for this movie to convince anybody that perhaps she was right or at the very least understandable in her actions all along.
In addition to the Cinderella, Brosh McKenna also wrote the script for the new Annie adaptation that is currently in production and will star Quvenzhané Wallis, Cameron Diaz and Jamie Foxx. Her previous credits are a bit all over the place., having written critically praised films like We Bought A Zoo and The Devil Wears Prada along with big misses like 27 Dresses with Katherine Heigl and I Don't Know How She Does It with Sarah Jessica Parker.
One big step in the process of getting Cruella made will, of course, be finding the proper actress to play her. But who do you think it should be? Should they find some fresh blood or maybe even go back to Glenn Close? Let us know what you think in the comments below!
