Fifty Shades of Grey screenwriter Kelly Marcel will pen the script for 101 Dalmations spinoff Cruella, which is now being fast-tracked by the studio, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Burton’s Alice in Wonderland defied all expectations in grossing $1 billion at the global box office in 2010.
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In the meantime, Disney is hard at work on a number of live-action films based on their beloved animated archive, including The Jungle Book; Beauty and the Beast, starring Emma Watson as Belle; Dumbo, to be directed by Tim Burton; Tink, starring Reese Witherspoon; and Mulan.
Introduced in Dodie Smith’s 1956 novel “The Hundred and One Dalmatians”, the crazed and cunning Cruella gained iconic status with Disney’s 1961 animated film, which based her mannerisms on actress Tallulah Bankhead. Similar to Maleficent, Cruella would tell the story of the 101 Dalmatians villain from her perspective – which might be a bit tricky, considering she’s a chronic smoker who wants to skin puppies for fur coats.
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When dating the untitled fairy tale films earlier this week, Disney wouldn’t say which movies might fill the four slots, which are December. 22, 2017; November. 2, 2018; March 29, 2019; and Nov. 18, 2019. Disney now has live action Dumbo, Tink, Mulan, and a Maleficent sequel in the planning stages, but they have so far refused to match dates to projects.
