Just in time for the release of Maleficent to theaters, Disney has put out a teaser for its next live-action remake of an old classic, Cinderella. Kenneth Branagh is directing a screenplay by Aline Brosh McKenna (The Devil Wears Prada) and Chris Weitz (The Golden Compass). Lily James (Lady Rose on Downton Abbey) will star as Cinderella with Cate Blanchett as Lady Tremaine, Helena Bonham Carter as the Fairy Godmother, and Hayley Atwell as Cinderella’s mother. Cinderella will hit theaters in March of 2015.
The teaser shows… not much actually. We get a very nice look at the glass slipper, a butterfly, and that’s about it. Still, feel free to look for clues reflected in the glass.
Branagh first made a name for himself adapting works of Shakespeare including Henry V and Hamlet (1996). With Thor and Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit he has moved closer to crowd pleasing fare.
Disney has been working on Cinderella since the box office money started pouring in from Alice in Wonderland in 2010. The commercial success of 2012’s Snow White and the Huntsman suggests that audiences are interested in live-action re-interpretations of classic fairy tales. The performance of Maleficent on May 30 should tell more.