Disney continues its initiative to create live-action versions of all of its fairy tale movies next year, when Cinderella comes to theaters.
Like Maleficent and Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland, you can expect some alterations to the classic tale made in the name of fleshing out the story. For example, if you've ever wondered why she sports such an unusual name, the new movie goes to great lengths to explain the name's origins and even puts a twist on it that adds new emotional significance.
Take a look at the trailer.
Kenneth Brannagh directs this adaptation, with a crew of familiar-faced actors that you probably recognize. Downton Abbey's "Lady Rose," actress Lily James, stars as the title character, while Cate Blanchett chews up the celluloid as Lady Tremaine, aka the wicked step-mother. Helena Bonham Carter is the Fairy Godmother, and yes that's Game of Thrones' Richard Madden as the impossibly handsome, charming Prince Kit.
Here's Disney's official description:
The story of "Cinderella" follows the fortunes of young Ella whose merchant father remarries following the death of her mother. Eager to support her loving father, Ella welcomes her new stepmother and her daughters Anastasia and Drisella into the family home. But when Ella's father unexpectedly passes away, she finds herself at the mercy of a jealous and cruel new family. Finally relegated to nothing more than a servant girl covered in ashes and spitefully renamed Cinderella, Ella could easily begin to lose hope. Yet despite the cruelty inflicted upon her, Ella is determined to honor her mother's dying words and to "have courage and be kind." She will not give in to despair nor despise those who mistreat her. And then there is the dashing stranger she meets in the woods. Unaware that he is really a prince, not merely an apprentice at the palace, Ella finally feels she has met a kindred soul. It appears her fortunes may be about to change when the Palace sends out an open invitation for all maidens to attend a ball, raising Ella's hopes of once again encountering the charming Kit. Alas, her stepmother forbids her to attend and callously rips apart her dress. But as in all good fairy tales, help is at hand, and a kindly beggar woman steps forward and — armed with a pumpkin and a few mice — changes Cinderella's life forever.
Cinderella hits theaters on March 13, 2015.
