Disney has closed in on a director to helm its live-action Cruella De Vil origin story,Cruella.Alex Timbers, who co-created Amazon’s Golden Globe-winningMozart in the Jungle, is in negotiations to head the film, which starsEmma Stoneas the titular fur-loving fashionista. And the decision may be indicative of the vibe Disney is going for.
THRfirst reported the news of Timbers, who is also an accomplished stage director. He helmed Broadway showsRocky,Peter and the Star Catcher, andBloody Bloody Andrew Jackson. However,Varietyclarified thatSam Gold, who won a Tony award in 2015 for the musicalFun Home, was one of a handful of other theater directors in the mix for the gig earlier on.
This doesn’t necessarily confirmCruellawill be a musical, but perhaps it’ll take nods for staging and tone from Broadway. Although, a number of upcoming Disney movies that are live-action interpretations of their classic library are focusing more on the musical aspect.Beauty and the BeastwithEmma Watson,The Little Mermaidwith music fromLin-Manuel Miranda, andMary Poppins ReturnswithEmily Bluntare all examples.101 Dalmatians, in which the character originated, was not a musical, butGlenn Close’s version of the character was more, shall we say, theatrical.
Kelly Marcel, who wrote the screenplays forFifty Shades of GreyandSaving Mr. Banks, is penning the script forCruella. Though,Jez Butterworthwrote the most recent draft.Cruellamarks two trends Disney continues to throw money at: live-action adaptations of animated classics and origin stories for some of their villains. Soon there won’t be enough characters left to provide this treatment, but with Disney in talks with a Broadway director to helm the film, maybe an alternate route to keep this franchise alive could inevitably be a stage adaptation.
If it happened toThe Lion KingandAladdin, why notCruella?
For a full rundown of all the live-action remakes Disney has in the works,click here.
