Disney began developing a Cruella De Vil movie a few years ago, but with the success of the similarly villain-oriented Maleficent and their live-action Cinderella redo, the Cruella project has been put on the fast-track with Fifty Shades of Grey scribe Kelly Marcel penning the screenplay. Although the project does not yet have a director, it may be close to signing a star, as Emma Stone is in talks to portray the iconic 101 Dalmatians villain and demented fur connoisseur.
Disney announced a slate of 19 upcoming films with release dates through 2020. In addition to Marvel’s Ant-Man 2, three untitled Marvel movies and the release date for The Incredibles 2, Disney also revealed dates for four new live-action fairy tales. According to Variety, the untitled fairy tales will be released on December 22, 2017, November 2, 2018, March 29, 2019 and November 8, 2019. But what could these untitled movies be?
So far, we only know some basic info about Disney’s next animated musical, Moana — Dwayne Johnson joined the voice cast months ago, and the studio offered a few details during D23, but nothing very substantial, like who exactly is playing the title role of the next Disney princess? A new feature introduces you to Auli’i Cravalho, a young Hawaiian girl who beat out hundreds of hopefuls in Disney’s search for the voice of Moana.
As they have grown rather fond of doing, Disney is looking back at one of their past hits in order to create some future success. After modern day versions of Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty and Alice in Wonderland (not to mention, upcoming versions of Beauty and the Beast and The Jungle Book), Disney has hired Rob Marshall (Chicago, Into the Woods) to direct a new Mary Poppins musical based on P.L. Travers’ original children’s books.
Disney’s annual convention dedicated to itself, D23 (named, I assume, after the number of dollars you have left in your bank account after you go and buy lots of cool Disney swag), kicks off today, so expect plenty of news and announcements coming out of Anaheim all weekend...
Some claim that “The Snow and Ice Dance,” one of China’s official songs for the distant 2022 Olympic games, sounds suspiciously similar to “Let It Go.”