After leaving the film adaptation of video game Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune last month, David O. Russell is now one of the front-runners Disney are considering to direct their fantasy film, Maleficent, a live-action retelling of the Sleeping Beauty story, THR report.
The film has Angelina Jolie attached as the lead, Maleficent, the wicked witch that casts the curse upon the Princess to put her to sleep for 100 years, until she is kissed by the Prince.
Tim Burton was originally to direct the film, but when he left the project earlier this year, the director’s chair was left empty, and Russell is one of the names Disney are now considering to fill the position. The film is to be told from the witch’s perspective, and has been written by Linda Woolverton, who’s worked with Disney for two decades, being involved with writing Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King, Mulan, and last year’s Alice in Wonderland. That Maleficent is to be the protagonist would certainly suggest that the film is a darker take on the traditional Disney tale, and that would definitely make it something to look forward to in my books.
Russell is a brilliant director, whose film, The Fighter, won him his first Academy Award nomination for Best Director last year. If Maleficent is going to be a darker version of the fairy tale, it would be something very different to the kind of films we’ve seen Russell direct to date. All of the features that he’s made so far have had a very different feel to them, even with his frequent collaboration with Mark Wahlberg, so taking on what could well be such a dark tale would give him something entirely new to work on.
Nothing is confirmed yet as to Russell’s role as director, but after Burton left the project earlier in the year, Disney will likely want to cast another very talented director to take his place, and Russell definitely fits that criterion. Both Russell and Jolie’s schedules are relatively well-matched at the moment to work out a schedule that could potentially see Maleficent ready for release by the end of next year, so here’s to hoping that the film’s director will be announced sooner rather than later, and then begins the search for the Princess and her Prince, and the rest of the tale’s cast.
