It’s been rather interesting to watch the career of filmmaker Kenneth Branagh for the last few years. Mainly known for his exquisite Shakespeare adaptations, it was an incredible surprise to find him taking on the big-budget action film Thor, which he did a wonderful job with. He decided to follow that up with a reboot of Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan character (playing double duty as director and the villain in the film). So, what has Branagh moved on to now? Another Shakespeare production? Another action flick? Nope, in keeping with his unpredictable nature of late, he’s attached himself to a live-action version of Cinderella for Disney.
Thus far, we’ve had a few little pieces of casting news for the project and today brings yet another. The Hollywood Reporter is reporting that Academy Award nominated actress Helena Bonham Carter has signed on to play the role of the Fairy Godmother. Carter is known for playing a variety of roles including The Red Queen in 2010’s Alice in Wonderland, Queen Elizabeth in The King’s Speech (her second Oscar nomination), and Bellatrix Lestrange in a few of the Harry Potter films. She’s even been known to take on a musical or two (Sweeney Todd, Les Miserables).
She joins a cast that already includes Lily James (Wrath of the Titans) in the title role, Academy Award winner Cate Blanchett (The Aviator, The Lord of the Rings) as the Wicked Stepmother, Richard Madden (Game of Thrones) as Prince Charming, and Holliday Granger (Jane Eyre) and Sophie McShera (Downton Abbey) as the Stepsisters.
With a director and a cast like this, it’s shaping up to be quite an intriguing film. I’m particularly interest to see Madden take on something outside the realm of Game of Thrones (and I’m rather glad to see him keeping busy after the, uh… unfortunate incident a couple of weeks ago).
While this is a Disney film, I hope that’s not going to negate the possibility of it being enjoyed by all age groups. Cinderella is obviously one of their most cherished animated films, but who knows what could happen with all of this talent involved.
No release date has been scheduled as of yet, but the film is expected to arrive in theaters sometime in 2014.
