| Disney's Maleficent | |
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| Original work | Maleficent (2014) |
| Owner | The Walt Disney Company |
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| Video game(s) | Maleficent Free Fall |
Maleficent is a Disney media franchise that began in 2014 with the theatrical release of Maleficent .
The film series takes inspiration from the 1959 animated classic, Sleeping Beauty , but from the perspective of the villainous Maleficent, where she's adapted as protector and the most powerful fairy of the Moors, who, in revenge for betrayal, casts a curse on the daughter of her ex-lover King Stefan, Aurora. Over the course of the film, she goes from a hero to villain, following Stefan's betrayal, and back to hero due to maternal feelings she develops towards Aurora.
| Film(s) | Director(s) | Producer(s) | Screenwriter(s) | Composer | Editor(s) | Cinematographer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maleficent | Robert Stromberg | Joe Roth | Linda Woolverton | James Newton Howard | Chris Lebenzon and Richard Pearson | Dean Semler |
| Maleficent: Mistress of Evil | Joachim Rønning | Joe Roth, Angelina Jolie and Duncan Henderson | Linda Woolverton, Noah Harpster and Micah Fitzerman-Blue | Geoff Zanelli | Laura Jennings and Craig Wood | Henry Braham |
Maleficent is a live-action adaptation/retelling of 1959's animated film Sleeping Beauty , from the eponymous antagonist. [1] In 2003, [2] during Don Hahn's meeting with Disney's animation department, it was suggested to create an origin film about Maleficent from Disney's animated film Sleeping Beauty in the same vein as then just released Broadway musical Wicked . [3] The film was originally conceived as animated, but, according to Hahn, it was "too difficult", so it was decided to go for a live-action approach instead. [4] In 2005, [3] Hahn met with Tim Burton to pitch him several projects for Disney, including Maleficent, which Burton agreed to helm, [5] but did not start working on it until around the summer of 2009, [6] when he was finishing Alice in Wonderland (2010). [5] Around the same time, Hahn approached Linda Woolverton, with whom he had previously worked on Beauty and the Beast (1991) and The Lion King (1994), to write the script, [5] and in March 2010 she officially joined the project, [6] while the studio began negotiations with Angelina Jolie to star as Maleficent. [7] Burton personally supervised the development of the film for six months to a year, [3] [5] until in May 2011 it was announced that he had left the project due to his commitments to Frankenweenie (2012) and Dark Shadows (2012). [8] [9] Following Burton's departure, the studio considered David Yates, [8] Darren Aronofsky, [10] and David O. Russell to take over as director. [11] Guillermo del Toro also expressed a desire to direct the film, citing Sleeping Beauty (1959) as one of his three favorite Disney films. [12] In September 2011, Joe Roth joined the project as a producer, [13] and in January 2012 it was announced that Robert Stromberg, the production designer of Avatar (2009), Alice in Wonderland (2010) and Oz the Great and Powerful (2013), would helm the project in his directional debut. [14] A month later, during the 62nd Berlin International Film Festival, Jolie officially confirmed her involvement in the project. [15]
Linda Woolverton's screenplay went through at least 15 versions as the film progressed in production. [16] Stromberg said: "I met many times with Linda Woolverton, the writer. We did lots of roundtable discussions and sort of cut out the fat as much as we could and sort of purified the storyline as much as we could". [17] Paul Dini also performed rewrites on the project with Stromberg, [18] and was credited in early press. [19] [20] In some earlier versions of the story, Stefan was the half-human, half-fairy bastard son of King Henry. The version of the screenplay that went into shooting originally included two characters called Queen Ulla and King Kinloch, the fairy queen and fairy king of the Moors and the aunt and uncle of Maleficent. [21] Miranda Richardson and Peter Capaldi were cast and shot the Queen Ulla and King Kinloch scenes, but their roles were cut in the editing process together with more than 15 minutes of the first act of the film. Stromberg said, "We spent a bit more time originally in the fairy world before we got into the human side of things ... we wanted to get it [the film] under two hours. So we cut about 15 minutes out of the first act, and then that had to be seamed together with some pretty basic reshoots." [22]
Stromberg later claimed in an interview that he employed an "age-old" emotional storytelling for the film and called it "the biggest thrill" against all technology advances. [23] "And the way we play with that is we have somebody who's perhaps in love but betrayed and doesn't believe that true love exists. So the moral to it is we can all feel dark ourselves but not to lose hope because there is light in places where we might not be expecting", he explained. [23] Principal photography began on June 13, 2012, at Pinewood Studios. [24] [25] Some filming took place in the Buckinghamshire countryside near Turville. [26]
The film was originally slated for a March 14, 2014 release, [27] before it was changed to July 2, 2014. [28] On September 18, 2013, the film's release date was preponed to May 30, 2014, as Pixar's The Good Dinosaur faced production issues and delayed to 2015. [29] In the United Kingdom, the film was released on May 28, 2014. [30]
Maleficent: Mistress of Evil is the sequel of the 2014 film Maleficent , continuing the story of the first film. [31] The film was released on October 18, 2019. [32] On June 3, 2014, following the release of the first film, Angelina Jolie hinted that a sequel to Maleficent was a possibility. [33] On June 15, 2015, Walt Disney Pictures announced that the sequel was in the works and that Linda Woolverton would return to write the screenplay for the film. [34] Although Jolie's return to the sequel was not yet certain, the script was intended to be written with her in mind. [34] In addition, Joe Roth was reported to return as producer of the film. [34] On April 25, 2016, Disney officially confirmed Jolie's return as the title character. [35] On August 29, 2017, it was reported that Jez Butterworth would rewrite Woolverton's script while Roth was confirmed as returning as producer. [36] In September 2017, Jolie stated that they "have been working on the script and this is going to be a really strong sequel." [37] On October 3, 2017, Deadline reported that the film would be directed by Joachim Rønning and it would start filming in the first quarter of 2018. [38]
In April 2018, Ed Skrein was cast in the film to play a dark fae, with Elle Fanning returning to play Princess Aurora from the previous film. [39] Michelle Pfeiffer was also added as a character described as a queen, [40] later clarified to be an evil queen [41] named Queen Ingrith. [42]
In May 2018, it was announced that Harris Dickinson would replace Brenton Thwaites in the role of Prince Phillip, due to scheduling conflicts with the latter actor. [43] Later it was also confirmed that Jenn Murray, David Gyasi, Chiwetel Ejiofor and Robert Lindsay had also joined the cast. Sam Riley, Imelda Staunton, Juno Temple and Lesley Manville were also confirmed to reprise their roles from the prior film. [44] [45] [46] In June 2018 Judith Shekoni joined the cast. [47]
The movie was theatrically released on October 18, 2019 by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, [48] moving up from the film's previously announced date of May 29, 2020., [49] and on December 31, 2019 by Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment on Digital HD, followed by a 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray and DVD release on January 14, 2020. [50] Maleficent: Mistress of Evil was released on Disney+ on May 15, 2020. [51]
A third film is in early development. [52] [53] In December 2023, Angelina Jolie stated that she is returning to the title role. [54]
A video game based on the film, titled Maleficent Free Fall and made by Disney Electronic Content, Inc., was released on May 15, 2014.
This section includes characters who will appear or have appeared in the series.
| Characters | Films | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Maleficent | Maleficent Mistress of Evil | Untitled third Maleficent film | |
| 2014 | 2019 | TBA | |
| Maleficent | Angelina Jolie Ella Purnell T Isobelle Molloy Y | Angelina Jolie | |
| Aurora | Elle Fanning Janet McTeer O V Eleanor Worthington Cox Y Vivienne Jolie-Pitt Y | Elle Fanning | TBA |
| Diaval | Sam Riley | ||
| Knotgrass | Imelda Staunton | ||
| Flittle | Lesley Manville | ||
| Thistlewit | Juno Temple | ||
| Prince Phillip | Brenton Thwaites | Harris Dickinson | |
| King Stefan | Sharlto Copley Jackson Bews T Michael Higgins Y | Mentioned | |
| King Henry | Kenneth Cranham | ||
| Queen Leila | Hannah New | ||
| King John | Mentioned | Robert Lindsay | |
| Queen Ingrith | Michelle Pfeiffer | ||
| Conall | Chiwetel Ejiofor | ||
| Borra | Ed Skrein | ||
| Lickspittle | Warwick Davis | ||
| Gerda | Jenn Murray | ||
| Percival | David Gyasi | ||
| Title | Critical | Public | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rotten Tomatoes | Metacritic | CinemaScore | |
| Maleficent | 54% (277 reviews) [55] | 56 (44 reviews) [56] | A [57] |
| Maleficent: Mistress of Evil | 39% (261 reviews) [58] | 43 (40 reviews) [59] | A [57] |
Maleficent is a fictional character who first appears in Walt Disney Productions' animated film, Sleeping Beauty (1959). Maleficent is the self-proclaimed "Mistress of All Evil" based on the evil fairy godmother character in Charles Perrault's fairy tale Sleeping Beauty, as well as the villainess who appears in the Brothers Grimm's retelling of the story, Little Briar Rose. Maleficent was originally animated by Marc Davis.
Mary Elle Fanning is an American actress. She made her film debut as a child as the younger version of her sister Dakota Fanning's character in the drama film I Am Sam (2001). She appeared in several other films as a child actress, including Daddy Day Care (2003), Babel (2006), The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and Phoebe in Wonderland, and the miniseries The Lost Room (2006). She then had leading roles in Sofia Coppola's drama Somewhere (2010) and J. J. Abrams' science fiction film Super 8 (2011).
Judith Iyabo Shekoni is an English actress, television personality and businesswoman.
Sleeping Beauty is a 1959 American animated musical fantasy film produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by Buena Vista Film Distribution. Based on Charles Perrault's 1697 fairy tale, the production was supervised by Clyde Geronimi, and was directed by Wolfgang Reitherman, Eric Larson, and Les Clark. Featuring the voices of Mary Costa, Bill Shirley, Eleanor Audley, Verna Felton, Barbara Luddy, Barbara Jo Allen, Taylor Holmes, and Bill Thompson, the film follows Princess Aurora, who was cursed by the evil fairy Maleficent to die from pricking her finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel. She is saved by three good fairies, who alter Aurora's curse so that she falls into a deep sleep and will be awakened by true love's kiss.
Belle is a fictional character in Disney's Beauty and the Beast franchise, first appearing in the 1991 animated film of the same name. Voiced by actress and singer Paige O'Hara, Belle is the book-loving daughter of an inventor, who yearns for adventure. When her father, Maurice, is imprisoned by an unkind beast in his enchanted castle, Belle offers her own freedom in exchange for his. Despite his outward appearance, she gradually befriends the Beast, who softens towards her and others in return.
Angelina Jolie is an American actress, filmmaker, and humanitarian. The recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a Tony Award and three Golden Globe Awards, she has been named Hollywood's highest-paid actress multiple times.
Linda Woolverton is an American screenwriter, playwright, and novelist, whose most prominent works include the screenplays and books of several acclaimed Disney films and stage musicals. She is the first woman to have written an animated feature for Disney, Beauty and the Beast (1991), which is also the first animated film ever to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture. She also co-wrote the screenplay of The Lion King (1994), provided additional story material for Mulan (1998), and adapted her own Beauty and the Beast screenplay into the book of the Broadway adaptation of the film, for which she received a Tony Award nomination and won an Olivier Award.
Joachim Rønning is a Norwegian film director, producer, and writer best known for the Academy Award and Golden Globe nominated Kon-Tiki and the Disney action-adventure films Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales starring Johnny Depp and Maleficent: Mistress of Evil starring Angelina Jolie. Rønning's films have grossed more than 1.3 billion dollars at the box office. Rønning's most recent work is directing Disney's Young Woman and the Sea starring Daisy Ridley.
Aurora, also known as Sleeping Beauty or Briar Rose, is a fictional character who appears in Walt Disney Productions' animated film Sleeping Beauty (1959). Originally voiced by singer Mary Costa, Aurora is the only child of King Stefan and Queen Leah. An evil fairy named Maleficent seeks revenge for not being invited to Aurora's christening and curses the newborn princess, foretelling that she will prick her finger on a spinning wheel's spindle and die before sunset on her sixteenth birthday. Merryweather, one of the three good fairies, weakened the curse so Aurora would only sleep. Determined to prevent this, three good fairies raise Aurora as a peasant in order to protect her, patiently awaiting her sixteenth birthday—the day the spell can only be broken by a kiss from her true love, Prince Phillip.
The following is a list of unproduced Tim Burton projects, in roughly chronological order. During a career that has spanned over 30 years, Tim Burton has worked on a number of projects which never progressed beyond the pre-production stage under his direction.
Maleficent is a 2014 American fantasy film starring Angelina Jolie as Maleficent in a live-action retelling of her villainous role in Walt Disney's 1959 animated film Sleeping Beauty, itself an adaptation of Charles Perrault's 1697 fairy tale. The film is directed by Robert Stromberg from a screenplay by Linda Woolverton. It also stars Sharlto Copley, Elle Fanning, Sam Riley, Imelda Staunton, Juno Temple, and Lesley Manville in supporting roles.
American actress Angelina Jolie made her screen debut in the comedy film Lookin' to Get Out (1982), acting alongside her father Jon Voight. Eleven years later, she appeared in her next feature, the low-budget film Cyborg 2 (1993), a commercial failure. She then starred as a teenage hacker in the science fiction thriller Hackers (1995), which went on to be a cult film despite performing poorly at the box-office. Jolie's career prospects improved with a supporting role in the made-for-television film George Wallace (1997), for which she received the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Television Film. She made her breakthrough the following year in HBO's television film Gia (1998). For her performance in the title role of fashion model Gia Carangi, she won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Television Film.
Descendants is an American musical fantasy television film directed and choreographed by Kenny Ortega. The film stars Dove Cameron, Sofia Carson, Booboo Stewart, and Cameron Boyce as the teenage children of Maleficent, the Evil Queen, Jafar, and Cruella de Vil, respectively. The film follows these teenagers adjusting to life outside their island prison, while on a mission to steal the Fairy Godmother's wand and free their parents from captivity. It debuted on July 31, 2015, as a Disney Channel Original Movie, to positive reviews and 6.6 million viewers.
Maleficent: Mistress of Evil is a 2019 American fantasy film directed by Joachim Rønning from a screenplay by Linda Woolverton, Micah Fitzerman-Blue, and Noah Harpster. Produced by Walt Disney Pictures and Roth/Kirschenbaum Films, it is a sequel to Maleficent (2014), itself a live-action retelling of Walt Disney's 1959 animated film Sleeping Beauty, and the second installment in the Maleficent film series. The film stars Angelina Jolie as the title character, with Elle Fanning, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Sam Riley, Harris Dickinson, Ed Skrein, Imelda Staunton, Juno Temple, Lesley Manville, and Michelle Pfeiffer in supporting roles. Set five years after the first film, the film sees the eponymous character face the neighboring kingdom's manipulated perception of herself as a villain, in addition to a subplot of the rise of an endangered, powerful fairy race of the Dark Fey.
Sleeping Beauty is a Disney media franchise that began in 1959 with the theatrical release of the animated film Sleeping Beauty, based on the homonymous fairy tale.
Maleficent (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) is the score album composed by James Newton Howard for the 2014 film Maleficent, based on the Disney villain character Maleficent from the animated film Sleeping Beauty (1959). The film is a live-action spin-off of Sleeping Beauty, and is loosely inspired from Charles Perrault's original fairy tale. Directed by Robert Stromberg, the film stars Angelina Jolie in the titular character.
Maleficent: Mistress of Evil is the score album to the 2019 film Maleficent: Mistress of Evil directed by Joachim Rønning, a sequel to Maleficent (2014). Geoff Zanelli, who previously collaborated with Rønning on Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales (2017), scored music for the film, replacing James Newton Howard, who composed for the predecessor. The soundtrack was released by Walt Disney Records on October 18, 2019. It features 22 score cues composed by Zanelli, and a theme song "You Can't Stop the Girl" by Bebe Rexha, released earlier as a single on September 20, 2019. The score received positive critical response, with Zanelli's composition being considered as an improvement over Howard's score from the predecessor.
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