Disney pulled out a lot of stops in terms of footage this year at CinemaCon in Las Vegas. However, Maleficent: Mistress of Evil is really under crunch time to make its release date in 2019 after the studio recently pushed the flick up from 2020. While we didn’t get a full-fledged look at the upcoming live action venture, we did hear from Angelina Jolie and Elle Fanning regarding where their characters are when Mistress of Evil picks up.
We also saw some first looks at the movie, learning that Maleficent continues to watch and protect over Aurora at the start of the new movie. However, it’s when Prince Phillip asks Aurora to marry him that events will really begin to ramp up, and Maleficent will meet the queen.
At its heart, according to Angelina Jolie:
In this film we pose the question is Maleficent good enough to be Aurora’s mother?
This isn’t as simple of a question as it may seem at the outset. Sure, Maleficent: Mistress of Evil is the follow-up to a story about how Maleficent succumbed to revenge while facing love and loss. Although she cursed Aurora, she also came to care for her over time. When last we left things, Maleficent’s story with Stefan had come to a close but her story with Aurora was just blossoming.
Or as Elle Fanning also put it during presentation footage at CinemaCon 2019:
Aurora and Maleficent love each other so much, but there is a huge divide between them. Maleficent is still a little wary of humans. Aurora’s dealing with the burden of coming into this new life to be this cookie cutter royal which is not what Aurora is.
Previously, we knew from the logline that Maleficent: Mistress of Evil would be picking up “several years” after Maleficent. In addition, we knew the sequel would “continue to explore” the relationship between “the horned fairy” and the “soon-to-be Queen.” What we learned at CinemaCon 2019 certainly expands on that information a little more ahead of the movie’s release a little later this year.
We’ve also known for a while that Michelle Pfeiffer would be a part of the new movie, as that actress is more in demand having returned to the big screen with mother! and Murder on the Orient Express. Now, we know that it will be Pfeiffer’s character who will be causing a rift between Maleficent and Auroro in the new movie and Jolie notes her character is a “smart woman” who just so happens to be Prince Phillip’s mommy dearest.
We haven’t gotten a full trailer for Maleficent: Mistress of Evil yet, but with the live action movie coming in October, we’ll hopefully be seeing more big footage from the movie soon. It’s been nearly five years since we saw the original flick on the big screen and a lot of people are highly anticipating the next chapter. For a full look at the Disney live action projects in the works, take a look at our full guide.
