Despite Disney's driving desire to turn all of its animated stories into live-action properties (or spin off ideas such as this one), the news on 101 Dalmatians-adjacent Cruella has been very quiet. Deadline reports that the film, still with Emma Stone attached as the titular lead, will now likely have Craig Gillespie in the director's seat.
He's in talks to take the job, and would replace Broadway veteran Alex Timbers, who was announced in late 2016, but a shift in timing by the studio means Timbers can't make the schedule work.
Jez Butterworth wrote the most recent draft of Cruella, which aims tell more about how she became the woman with dangerous and controversially fur-happy style from the original 'toon (itself adapted from Dodie Smith's 1956 novel). With, one assumes a reason for why she's called Cruella De Vil in the first place. Is it an assumed name? Or did her parents simply realise she was destined to cause trouble at an early age? According to The Hollywood Reporter, the film is set in the 1980s with a punk vibe. Okay...
Gillespie is coming off the success of I, Tonya, and while he's been working on a remake of Norwegian supernatural thriller Thelma, he has time to be able to kick off shooting Cruella next year. He's also got form with the Mouse House, having made Million Dollar Arm and The Finest Hours for the company.
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