Disney’s live-action remakes have accomplished a lot of things, mainly earning a ton of money for the Mouse House, but 2014’s Maleficent went just a little bit further. Not only was it a hit at the box office, it accomplished the feat of turning Disney’s most notorious villain into a sympathetic figure. So that poses an interesting challenge for the sequel, Maleficent: Mistress of Evil, in that a new villain far worse must be introduced. Enter Michelle Pfeiffer as the new foil for Angelina Jolie to contend with.
So what if Maleficent cursed and tried to poison Sleeping Beauty herself, the Princess Aurora (Elle Fanning), their relationship is now a “complex” one rather than outright adversarial. Now they’ll be joining forces against Aurora’s future mother-in-law, Queen Ingrith (Pfeiffer) as she threatens the magical lands.
The cast has expanded significantly with Pfeiffer, Harris Dickinson who replaces Brenton Thwaites as Prince Philip, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Ed Skrein, and Warwick Davis joining previous stars Sam Riley, Imelda Staunton, Lesley Manville, and Juno Temple. Replacing Robert Stromberg as director is Kon-Tiki‘s Joachim Rønning.
Maleficent: Mistress of Evil opens October 18th.
