Where is Cruella 2 with Emma Stone?
Emma Thompson had teased a sequel in the vein of Godfather 2, half-sequel, half-prequel. Is this project still relevant?
Two years ago, Emma Stone played Estella, aka Cruella de Vil, for Disney Studios. The heroine ofa live movie inspired by 101 Dalmatiansbut telling a very different story from that shown in the 1961 cartoon (and already repeated with flesh-and-blood actors, notably Glenn Close in the role of the big villain, in 1996 and 2000).
While Cruella arrives unencrypted on television (see you this evening on M6), we are looking at its sequel, officially announced in June 2021, but which has not yet had the green light from the studio since.
Emma Stone is breathtaking as Cruella (review)
By retracing the youth of this very memorable Disney villain, Cruella received a positive reception. The reviews were generally good, particularly towards the performance of its main actress, Emma Stone, and her main competitor played by Emma Thompson. Craig Gillepsie, director of Me Tonyahad managed to move away enough from its animated model to surprise the public and offer a “origin story” who stood up to this anti-heroine. While having an ending that is open enough to announce a sequel. An original film or this time a real live adaptation of the 101 Dalmatians ? The details were never clarified.
Despite this good reception, the journey of Cruella was not easy: this big budget film was released in the middle of the Covid epidemic in the summer of 2021, with an exceptional distribution, both in cinemas and streaming on Disney+. A strategy which had caused the firm a conflict with Scarlett Johansson on another project Black Widow, because the actress had signed a contract stipulating bonuses on receipts in the event of success in the cinema of this Marvel super-production. By being little broadcast on the big screen to the detriment of streaming, she felt she had been deceived by the production.
Box office experts feared that the high-profile complaint could lead to a disagreement between Emma Stone and Disney over Cruellabut in the end, the actress did not turn against the studio, and she quickly shared her his desire to participate in the sequel. Just like Emma Thompson, who plays Baroness von Hellman, Paul Walter Hauser and Joseph Fry, who play Cruella’s right-hand men, Horace and Jasper.
At the end of the run, the film grossed $233 million at the box office, and enjoyed good streaming audiences, so much so that in June 2021, Disney officially announced its sequel. In addition to the actors mentioned above, the director was to return, as was the screenwriter, Tony McNamara (The Favorite, Poor Creatures…). But in what form?
Several ideas have been launched over the months. Emma Thompson notably submitted to Rotten Tomatoes the concept of shooting a film that would be half a prequel and half a sequel, citing the construction of the Godfather 2, by Francis Ford Coppola. There was also talk of telling the same story as in 101 Dalmatians, but this time from Cruella’s point of view. Fans even hope that the two interpreters of this great villain will be able to cross paths on the screen: if this idea of double temporality is validated, then Cruella could have the features of young Emma Stone, and of Glenn Close older ? In 2021, precisely, the latter was quite proud to show on Instagram thatshe had kept her costumes and that they still fit her perfectly.
On paper, there are several ways to continue the story of Cruella, but for now, nothing official has been announced by Disney. The success of the first part was not significant enough for this sequel project to be obvious, unlike the Lion Kingfor example, who was a billionaire at the box office, and whose next chapter will focus on Scar…
Note that by announcing Cruella 2 two years ago, Disney was counting on a release… in 2023. It failed, the production took too long to start, and if this sequel is done, it will only be after the end of the strike actors and screenwriters. For a cinema release not before 2024 or 2025.
