Emma Stone and Disney have officially signed the deal to return for a sequel to Disney’s “Cruella”, following the success of the original film.
Emma Stone returns as the iconic Disney villain. Stone has reportedly signed a deal to reprise her role in the “Cruella” sequel, with original director Craig Gillespie and writer Tony McNamara also returning.
No other details have been revealed at this stage, including whether anyone else from the original film will appear. A release date has not yet been announced.
“Cruella“, which debuted in theaters and on Disney+ via Premier Access on May 28, was a big hit for Disney. It grossed $85 million at the domestic box office and $221 million worldwide.
The news that Stone had signed on to direct the sequel to “Cruella” came as a surprise to many, given the recent controversy surrounding Disney‘s recent release of new films on Disney+.
Scarlett Johansson has sued Disney over the release of the “Black Widow” and rumors have also been circulating that Stone is considering a similar lawsuit.
As well as Emma Stone, who plays Estella Miller, Cruella also stars Emma Thompson as Baroness von Hellman, a designer who is Estella‘s main rival.
Both Emma’s impressed critics with their performances and were widely praised for their acting. The two have also joked that they would be willing to do a sequel along the lines of “The Godfather II“, set in two different periods, with Thompson writing the script.
During Disney’s quarterly earnings report CEO Bob Chapek addressed the studio’s relationship with talent, saying to analysts, “I will say that since COVID has begun, we’ve entered into hundreds of talent arrangements with our talent. And by and large, they’ve gone very, very smoothly. So we expect that that would be the case going forward.”
“While the media landscape has been disrupted in a meaningful way for all distributors, their creative partners cannot be left on the sidelines to carry a disproportionate amount of the downside without the potential for upside,” said Patrick Whitesell, Executive Chairman of Endeavor of WME client Stone’s deal.
“This agreement demonstrates that there can be an equitable path forward that protects artists and aligns studios’ interests with talent.”
The exec added: “We are hopeful that this will open the door for more members of the creative community to participate in the success of new platforms.”
The 2021 feature acted as an ’80s punk-inspired origin story for the famed Disney villain from “101 Dalmatians“. Speaking of Emma Stone, it’s worth noting that Oscar nominee Yorgos Lanthimos’ new film starring Emma Stone, Willem Dafoe, and Mark Ruffalo is about to production in Hungary.
“Poor Things” is a variation on the Frankenstein story, in which a dead woman is brought back to life by a scientist in Victorian Glasgow. The heroine is played by Stone, the scientist by Dafoe.
The film, based on the 1992 novel by Alasdair Grey, is currently in pre-production at ORIGO Studios in Budapest
Sources: 24.hu, Hollywood Reporter
