Get away, Glenn Close. There is a new live action Cruella de Vil in town.
Disney achieved box office success in 2014, telling the origin story of the “Sleeping Beauty” villain Maleficent (the main pillar starring Angelina Jolie grossed $ 758 million worldwide and led to a low-performing streak in 2019) , and now Mouse House hopes to have similar luck with “Cruella”, a deep dive into the youth of the iconic villain Cruella de Vil from “One Hundred and One Dalmatians”. In a big win for Disney, Oscar winner Emma Stone plays the villain in a story set in the 1970s London punk scene.
Disney’s synopsis for “Cruella” says: “In London in the 1970s, young stylist Estella de Vil became obsessed with dog skins, especially dalmatians, until she eventually became a cruel and terrifying legend known as Cruella.”
“Cruella” is directed by Craig Gillespie in his project following “I, Tonya”, which won Allison Janney the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress. “I, Tonya” also received Oscar nominations for Best Actress (Margot Robbie) and Best Film Editing, in addition to raising $ 53 million worldwide with a production budget of $ 11 million. Like many independent filmmakers, Gillespie turned his success in independent cinema into a Disney directorial show. The filmmaker last worked with Disney on two projects: “The Finest Hours” and “Million Dollar Arm”, although none of the titles have been highly successful at the box office.
Joining Stone in the cast of “Cruella” are Emma Thompson, Joel Fry, Paul Walter Hauser (reuniting with Gillespie after “I, Tonya), Emily Beecham and Mark Strong. Tony McNamara, Oscar nominee for Stone, screenwriter for “The Favorite”, co-wrote the script for “Cruella” with Dana Fox, based on a story worked by “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend” host Aline Brosh McKenna, screenwriter for “Fifty Shades of Gray” and “Venom” Kelly Marcel and Steve Zissis, star of “Togetherness”. Glenn Close, who played Cruella de Vil in Disney’s 1996 live-action remake of “One Hundred and One Dalmatians”, serves as executive producer on “Cruella”.
“Cruella” is scheduled to open in theaters on May 28 at Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. The release date may change because of the pandemic, but for now the film remains dated for the summer season of 2021. Other Disney titles launching this summer include the entry of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, “Black Widow”. Watch the movie trailer in the video below.
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