First Look At Angelina Jolie In Maleficent

In case you hadn’t noticed, fairytales are big business right now. With Snow White And The Huntsman currently on the big screen and Once Upon A Time and Grimm given second seasons, the latest piece of Grimm storytelling to get a 21st century retelling is Sleeping Beauty.

Maleficent is the “untold story” (surely there can’t be many untold stories yet to be told) of the eponymous Big Bad who made Princess Aurora have that accident with a spinning wheel that put her to sleep for decades. With Angelina Jolie on board to play the child bulling villainess (see picture), the movie promises to “reveal the events that hardened Maleficent’s heart and drove her to curse the baby” – whether it’s the subtext the brothers Grimm had in mind when they originally wrote the story has not been revealed.

District 9‘s Sharlto Copley, Super 8‘s Elle Fanning, Control‘s Sam Riley, Harry Potter‘s Imelda Staunton and Blackadder‘s Miranda Richardson are also on board for the movie which is now in production, and set for a 3D release in early 2014.