Tag Archives: Maleficent

First Photo of Angelina Jolie As Maleficent Revealed

Leave a reply

Walt Disney Studios announced the beginning of production on the upcoming film Maleficient by releasing the first photo showing actress Angelina Jolie in the titular role.

The film is being directed by the two-time Oscar winning production designer Robert Stromberg most known for his work on hit films such as Avatar and Alice in Wonderland. This will be his directorial debut. Linda Woolverton wrote the screenplay with the project being executive produced by Angelina Jolie, Don Hahn, Matt Smith and Palak Patel.

Sharlto Copley, known for his role in District 9, Elle Fanning, from Super 8, and Sam Riley, Imelda Staunton, Miranda Richardson, Juno Temple, and Lesley Manville will be co-starring in the production.

Maleficent focuses on the side of the story according the villain from the classic Sleeping Beauty. It will reveal what caused the evil queen to be so hardened and what drive her to curse baby Aurora. In the original movie, she is the self-proclaimed “Mistress of All Evil” who, after not being invited to the baby’s christening, curses the infant Princess Aurora to “prick her finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel and die” before the sun sets on her sixteenth birthday. The character is Disney’s half-dragon adaptation of the evil fairy godmother from the original fairy tale.

The character is also one of the most “loved” and well known of the evil villains from Disney films.

Maleficent is scheduled for a March 14, 2014 release in 3D.

Casting Update For Walt Disney’s Maleficent

Leave a reply

It was announced quite a bit ago that Angelina Jolie will star as the titular character in Maleficent, a new take on the classic fairy tale Sleeping Beauty. And now several other cast members have finally been added to the project.

Imelda Staunton, from the Harry Potter series, and Miranda Richardson (Sleepy Hollow) have also joined the cast. According to the blog from Hollywood Reporter, Staunton and Lesley Manville will be playing the characters of Knotgrass and Flittle, respectively. The characters are “two of the three pixies that end up taking care of Aurora.”

The new project comes from Director Robert Stromberg, most known for his work on Pan’s Labyrinth. 

According to Heat Vision, Elle Fanning, star of Super 8, has officially been added to the cast as the Princess. As for Queen Ulla, Richardson will be “a Fairy Queen who is Maleficent’s aunt with a dislike of her niece.”

Kenneth Cranham (Made in Dagenham) and Sam Riley (Brighton Rock) have also joined the production, which is set to begin filming in June.

Cranham will be playing the role of the human king who plots to conquer the fairy kingdom. Riley will portray Diaval, a character described as a raven who changes into human form and is Maleficent’s right hand.”

Sharlto Copely has also been announced to be going the cast in the lead role of Stefan, “the half-human, half-fairy bastard son of the human king.”

Maleficent tells the story from the point of view of the witch who cursed Aurora to a permanent sleep on her 16th birthday. The character of Maleficent is often viewed as the most powerful and sinister of the Disney Villains, frequently acting as their leader in many genre crossovers, and her scenes in the climax of the film are among the darkest and most intense produced by Disney. In Ultimate Disney’s top 30 Disney Villains countdown, Maleficent ranked #1.She also plays a major role in the Kingdom Hearts series, as a recurring villain.

It is projected to be released March 14, 2014.