Apparently, we haven't seen the last of Cruella de Vil.
Following the debut of the live-action origin story about the iconic villainess best known from Disney's One Hundred and One Dalmatians, Disney has reportedly given the greenlight for a sequel. While details are obviously still being kept under wraps, The Hollywood Reporter states a sequel to the Emma Stone-starring Cruella is in "early development" with director Craig Gillespie and screenwriter Tony McNamara expected to return.
Cruella debuted on May 28 simultaneously in theaters and on the Disney+ streaming service with the $30 Premier Access fee attached. In addition to the glowing reviews, the film has earned $50 million globally, according to Box Office Mojo. Cruella sits at a 74% on Rotten Tomatoes with 324 reviews, but the audience score is a much more positive 97%.
A Disney spokesperson praised the film's performance at the box office and on Disney+.
“We are very pleased with Cruella’s box office success, in conjunction with its strong Disney+ Premier Access performance to date. The film has been incredibly well received by audiences around the world, with a 97% Audience Score on Rotten Tomatoes in addition to A’s in every demographic from CinemaScore on opening weekend, ranking it among the most popular of our live-action reimaginings. We look forward to a long run as audiences continue to enjoy this fantastic film.”
Because the sequel is so early in development, there are no real details as to where the story could go. However, in an exclusive interview with our sister site Comic Book Movie, director Craig Gillespie had alluded to a sequel and seemed eager to continue to tell the character's origins story.
So, I think it is exciting to see now that she has all of this power and this social awareness, what’s going to happen with her, is that going to be her undoing? I always equated it to The Graduate moment on the bus when he gets the girl and it’s all like “Are they going to be happy now? Is this what they actually wanted?” They’ve been driving toward this goal the whole film and thing with her is that she’s been wanting to get here, it’s like what did she give up when she lost a part of her as Estella and she’s kind of in this gilded cage now, in the public eye. "
Disney has been mining its library of animated features for stories to tell in live-action form, dating all the way back to 2010's Alice in Wonderland. In 2014, the company released Maleficent, which starred Angelina Jolie, as the iconic villain in an origin story that painted the character in new light. Since then, Disney has had a string of successful live-action releases including Beauty and the Beast (2017), Aladdin (2019), and The Lion King (2019) -- all of which grossed $1 billion worldwide. Looking ahead, the company has planned live-action reimaginings of Pinocchio, Peter Pan & Wendy, and The Little Mermaid. Funny enough, Cruella star Emma Stone had previously told Variety that she'd love to see an origin story about The Little Mermaid's Sea Witch, Ursula, come to life.
Have you seen Cruella yet? Let us know if you're excited for the prospect a sequel in the comments below!