‘Fifty Shades’ Screenwriter Attached to Disney’s ‘Cruella’

Continuing the trend of turning fairy tale animation classics into live action films, Disney is fast tracking Cruella, a live-action feature film based on villainess Cruella de Vil from 101 Dalmatians.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Kelly Marcel (Saving Mr. Banks) is set to co-pen the screenplay along with Steve Zississ (Togetherness). Aline Brosh McKenna (Annie) had previously worked on the script for Cruella. Disney previously did a live adaptation of 101 Dalmatians, with Glenn Close playing de Vil in 1996 and reprising her role in 102 Dalmations in 2000.

Marcel was the screenwriter behind Universal’s steamy hit, Fifty Shades of Grey, adapting from the E.L. James novel of the same name. Previous to that, the British writer-producer created and wrote episodes for the 2011 TV series Terra Nova, and co-wrote Disney’s Saving Mr. Banks along with Sue Smith (Peaches).

Following the huge box office successes of Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland in 2010, Robert Stromberg’s Maleficent last year, and Kenneth Branagh’s Cinderella this year, other fairytale adaptations are queuing up at Disney. Already scheduled for release are Jon Favreau’s The Jungle Book (April 15, 2016), Tim Burton’s sequel Alice Through the Looking Glass (May 27, 2016) and Bill Condon’s Beauty and the Beast (March 17, 2017). Also in the works for live action adaptation are Dumbo (Tim Burton attached to direct), Tink based on the Tinker Bell character from Peter Pan (Reese Witherspoon attached to star and produce), Maleficent sequel with returning star Angelina Jolie (Linda Woolverton attached to write), Mulan (screenplay by Elizabeth Martin and Lauren Hynek), and Pete’s Dragon (David Lowery attached to direct). In related news, Disney also has live action project in the works based on its Jungle Cruise ride at Disneyland, with Dwayne Johnson attached to star. Disney has released four dates for upcoming fairy tale films: December 22, 2017, November 2, 2018, March 29, 2019, and November 18, 2019 but has not yet specified which films are linked with which time slots.