‘Cruella,’ another one of Disney’s live-action reimaginings, now has Paul Walter Hauser in talks to play Horace. He is one of Cruella’s henchmen, and the partner of Jasper, who may be played by an African American actor.
Hauser will be reuniting with director Craig Gillespie (‘Lars and the Real Girl,’ ‘The Finest Hours’) on this film, as they worked together on the Academy Award winning ‘I, Tonya.’ Other recent credits include Spike Lee’s ‘BlacKkKlansman,’ Nisha Ganatra’s ‘Late Night,’ and the YouTube Premium series ‘Cobra Kai.’ Next, he will appear in Spike Lee’s ‘Da 5 Bloods’ and Clint Eastwood’s ‘The Ballad of Richard Jewell,’ both currently without release dates.
The film is a different take on the ‘101 Dalmations’ franchise, and will star Emma Stone as the titular character.
Emma Thompson (‘Saving Mr. Banks,’ ‘Beauty and the Beast’) will play the film’s antagonist. She will portray the Baroness, who is pivotal to Cruella’s rise as the classic Disney villain.
Meanwhile, Dev Patel (‘The Newsroom,’ ‘Lion’) is circling the role of Roger. He is the owner of Pongo, the dog that helps Roger meet and fall in love with his wife Anita.
Moreover, 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.”
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’).
Additionally, costume designer Jenny Beavan (‘Mad Max: Fury Road,’ ‘Christopher Robin’), cinematographer Nicolas Karakatsanis (‘Triple 9,’ ‘I, Tonya’), and production designer Fiona Crombie (‘Macbeth,’ ‘The Favourite’) are all onboard.
Further, filming will now begin this September in London, England, once ‘The Ballad of Richard Jewell’ wraps August 30th.
‘Cruella’ will release on December 23, 2020.
Source: The Wrap