The chimes of midnight have struck and unfortunately for Disney, director Mark Romanek has turned into a pumpkin and two white mice. Which is to say he’s decided to stop working with the studio on its new, live-action Cinderella remake.
"The Walt Disney Studios and Mark Romanek have parted ways on Disney’s Cinderella project," the company said in a statement picked up by The Hollywood Reporter. "We are committed to moving the project forward and have begun the search for a new director. The team here at Disney respects Mark as both a director and a friend, and we hope to find something to work on together in the future."
While both sides have been coy about what happened, Deadline reports that the Never Let Me Go director didn’t see eye to eye with the Mouse House over the vision for the film. He wanted something dark, where as Disney is hoping that this will become the next Alice In Wonderland: quirky, but with wider appeal. Romanek has form on this front: he was attached to Universal’s The Wolfman for years but pulled the eject cord and was replaced by Joe Johnston.
This new take on Cinderella still has Cate Blanchett attached to star and a script from Chris Weitz and Aline Brosh McKenna. Expect a new director to be attached in the not-too-distant future, given Disney's professed commitment to making this happen.