Maleficent: Mistress of Evil – what you need to know.

Maleficent: Mistress of Evil is the sequel to the 2014 hit film ‘Maleficent’. Angelie Jolie and Elle Fanning return to their roles and it’s been said to be one of the best movies this year. So here is everything to know before its release this week. 

The basics

Directed by Joachim Rønning who has also worked on ‘Pirates of the Carribean: Salazar’s Revenge’ and ‘Doomsday’. 

Written by Micah Fitzerman- Blue, Noah Harpster and Linda Woolverton. Fitzerma-Blue and Harpster have previously worked together on ‘Transparent’ and Woolverton has worked on classics such as ‘The Lion King’, ‘Beauty and the Beast’ and ‘Alice in Wonderland’. 

Maleficent is rated PG and has a running time of 1 hour and 58 minutes. 

Due to be released in cinemas in the UK on the 18th October. As a matter of fact, this will be the 60th anniversary of when the first ‘Sleeping Beauty’ was released. 

The film stars Angelina Jolie and Elle Fanning. Jolie has many iconic films behind her such as ‘Mr and Mrs Smith’, ‘Salt’ and ‘The Tourist’. Fanning has worked on ‘The Curious Case of Benjamin Button’ and ‘We Bought a Zoo’. 

The film

Writer Woolverton and actresses Jolie and Fanning all return to reprise their roles from the previous film.

The 2014 film grossed $758 million worldwide although only having had a $180 million budget.

In March, Disney released the first teaser poster.

The film was originally set to open in May 2020 although Rønning said that coming out just before Halloween was also a great thing. 

This is the first film the director Rønning has not worked on with his co director Espen Sandberg. 

Other stars of the film include Warwick Davis, Michelle Pfeiffer and Imelda Staunton.

Harry Dickinson took over the role of Prince Philip from Brenton Thwaites in 2018 due to scheduling conflicts with the film ‘Titans’. Dickinson has also worked on ‘Clique’ and ‘Beach Rats’. 

The sequel of the film was announced in 2015 and Jolie signed on to the film in 2016. 

The whole cast was confirmed in May 2018. 

Filming began in May 2018 at the Pinewood Studios in Buckinghamshire England. Filming finished on August 2018.

The music score was composed by Geoff Zanelli replacing James Newton Howard who composed the previous film. 

‘You Can’t Stop the Girl’ Bebe Rexha is from the film’s soundtrack and was released as a single in September 2019. 

The film is projected to gross $50 million in its opening weekend in the USA and Canada. 

Normally films will be delayed and although this may be true Maleficent was brought forward. According to Rønning it was because he thinks that Disney “saw an opportunity to bring it forward. They saw a director’s cut and they were happy with it, and they saw that maybe we don;t need to wait another seven months.” 

Jolie discusses working with Fanning again and said that Fanning brought out a ‘goofy’ side of her. 

The film according to Jolie is about how families are “pulled apart by their difference” and fighting “for the belief that what makes you different, makes you stronger.”

Other facts

This will be part of the 10 films that have been released by Disney in 2019. 

This is the second time Jolie and Chiwetel Ejiofor have worked together. Previously they both worked on ‘Salt’. 

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