‘Cruella,’ another one of Disney’s live-action reimaginings, has Emma Thompson in early talks to join the cast. If a deal closes, she will play the film’s antagonist: Baroness, who is pivotal to Cruella’s rise as the classic Disney villain.
Thompson is no stranger to Disney remakes, having recently been apart of Bill Condon’s ‘Beauty and the Beast.’ She has a busy 2019 ahead of her, with Amazon’s ‘Late Night,’ HBO’s ‘Years and Years,’ Sony’s ‘Men in Black: International,’ and Universal’s ‘Last Christmas.’ For 2020, she will be in Universal’s ‘The Voyage of Doctor Dolittle.’
The film is a different take on the ‘101 Dalmations’ franchise, and will star Emma Stone as the titular character.
Further, there are some casting details on the duo that serve as Cruella’s henchman. An African American actor may fill the role of Jasper, while his partner Horace will likely be Caucasian.
Moreover, Craig Gillespie (‘Lars and the Real Girl,’ ‘I, Tonya’) will serve as director. He replaces Alex Timbers (‘Mozart in the Jungle,’ ‘John Mulaney: Kid Gorgeous at Radio City’), who was part of the film for awhile, but had to depart due to scheduling issues.
Additionally, Tony McNamara (‘Ashby,’ ‘The Favourite’) wrote the recent draft of the screenplay. The previous draft was from Dana Fox (‘How to be Single,’ ‘Isn’t It Romantic’).
The logline is below:
‘Estella (Stone), before she becomes Cruella De Vil, lives on the streets of 1980’s London with other hoodlums, where we learn the real origins behind Estella’s hatred of Dalmatians.”
Filming will begin this July or August in London, England.
‘Cruella’ will release on December 23, 2020.
Source: Variety