Disney Developing Maleficent Sequel

You may not be surprised to learn that, after the huge success of last year’s ‘Maleficent’, Disney is outlining plans for a sequel.

According to The Wrap, its star Angelina Jolie is expected to return as the title role – even though she’s not contracted to do so – to play the good witch turned bad, with the writer of the first, Linda Woolverton,back on script duties.

Joe Roth is said to be producing again, but the 2014 film’s director Robert Stromberg won’t be coming back.

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‘Maleficent’ surprised just about everyone when it was released in cinemas around this time last year, after many experts were adamant it was going to be a flop. Fortunately for Disney the naysayers were proven wrong when the movie made over $750 million, resulting in several hundred million dollars of profit.

It’s therefore no surprise that a sequel – will they simply call it ‘Maleficent 2′? – was likely, but if Jolie isn’t prepared to reprise her role then it could be quite a problem for producers who would have to make significant alterations by casting an alternative actor.

Apparently Jolie caused headaches for Sony and Universal when propositioned with sequels for both ‘Salt’ and ‘Wanted’, respectively. She declined to be involved after her time on the ‘Tomb Raider’ movies was said to have disheartened her from doing franchises and sequels, but perhaps this role might be the one to change that perception.

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Picture credit: Disney