"Maleficent 2" is set to start production in the first quarter of 2018 and the staff is eyeing Joachim Ronning to sit on the director's chair.
The co-director of "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales," as reported by Deadline, is sitting down with Disney for the sequel to "Maleficent." Although the live-action adaptation of the Disney animated classic "Sleeping Beauty" scored $758.5 million in the box office, the sequel had to be put on hold for other projects like "Cinderella" and "The Jungle Book."
Robert Stromberg, the first film's director never really intended to return for the sequel. On the other hand, Linda Woolverton will be returning to write the script for "Maleficent 2." She will be working with Jez Butterworth ("Spectre" and "Black Mass") who is also currently working on another Disney live-action under the working title of "Cruella." The follow-up film to the 2014 box office hit will be produced by Joe Roth.
"We have been working on the script and this is going to be a really strong sequel," Angelina Jolie told Deadline in an interview, confirming her role reprisal of the film's antagonist-slash-protagonist.
"Maleficent" is a retelling of the fairy tale "Sleeping Beauty" in the point of view of the villain. The film follows the story of a fairy as the titular character. The story became an act of vengeance when the fairy was betrayed by the world of men. Instead of following the flow of the original story of exacting her revenge, the live-action film had a very different ending considering the main character was the villain of the story.
News about the plot of "Maleficent 2" is not out yet, but if it were to follow the first movie, fans will again be up for a treat.
While no official release date has been announced yet, "Maleficent 2" is set to hit cinemas in 2019.
