Two Emmas are better than one. Fresh off hosting Saturday Night Live this past weekend, Emma Thompson is now in talks to join Emma Stone in Disney’s live-action Cruella. The film will tell the origin story of the 101 Dalmatians villain Cruella de Vil. Craig Gillespie (I, Tonya) is directing from a script by Tony McNamara and Dana Fox.
In the original 1961 animated classic, Cruella was a villain obsessed with capturing the titular dogs, and the new film will explain why dogs are so important to her backstory. This film is set in the high fashion 1970s, with Stone’s Cruella playing a brilliant clothing designer who is forced to toil as a lowly department store worker.
But when a posh woman known as the Baroness enters the store, wearing Cruella’s special locket given to her by her mother — one that Cruella lost on the same night her mother passed away at the Baroness’ estate – she promptly decides to do whatever it takes to get her locket back. Fortunately, that includes crashing the Baroness’ glitzy ball.
Thompson is set to play the Baroness, and should be an excellent foil opposite Stone. She’s also no stranger to Disney fairy tales, having recently appeared in 2017’s Beauty And The Beast. She also played Mary Poppins author P.L. Travers opposite Tom Hanks‘ Walt Disney in Saving Mr. Banks.
It should be interesting to see how Cruella turns out. In the original film, and when played by Glenn Close in the live-action 90s/early 2000s movies, she’s depicted as completely, dastardly evil. How Stone and co. are able to turn her into a sympathetic, relatable protagonist – at least temporarily – will be a fun ride. Thompson should certainly help with that.
Cruella is set to be released December 23, 2020. Thompson will next be seen in Mindy Kaling‘s Late Night and Men In Black: International. Both films arrive on the same day – Friday, June 7.
#Peace.Love.Cruella
