Disney has already reinvented one iconic villainess with Angelina Jolie’s Maleficent, and they are moving forward on their plan to do the same to 101 Dalmatians‘ Cruella de Vil. Their upcoming live-action film Cruella is set to star Emma Stone as a younger version of the puppy-stealing fashionista, but if they were going in a different direction Emma Thompson might’ve been a perfect choice for the role. Well, she’s in the movie, anyway, albeit in a different role.
Variety reports Emma Thompson has joined Stone in Cruella, although details on her role are unclear. Hmmm…so there’s still a chance she could be playing an older Cruella? Or her mother? There’s still a great deal we don’t know about the approach taken by director Craig Gillespie (I, Tonya) and screenwriter Tony McNamara, who rewrote Dana Fox’s screenplay. The original animated film took place in the 1960s, while the live-action remakes starring Glenn Close were in the ’90s, both set in what would’ve been present-day at the time.
Thompson’s no stranger to working with Disney. She recently voiced Mrs. Potts in the hit Beauty and the Beast, and played Mary Poppins author P.L. Travers in Saving Mr. Banks. She has a busy year ahead, reprising her role as Agent O in Men in Black: International. Thompson also stars alongside Mindy Kaling in Amazon’s comedy Late Night.
Cruella opens December 23rd 2020.
