As soon as the Marvel portion of the D23 Expo Live-Action panel, it went on Disney’s own properties. One of the biggest things to come out of that panel was that we got to see the first few clips of the Robert Stromberg‘s Maleficent, starring Angelina Jolie.
We knew that the film would be an origins story for Maleficent, but the scenes that were shown gave us a more clear idea of what her motivations were, why she became evil, and would would drive her to curse Sleeping Beauty. Hit the jump for more.
It is revealed that there was a relationship between the young king (Sharlto Copley) and a teenage fairy, Maleficent. But an act of betrayal would turn Maleficent into a dark fairy, and drive her to have animosity against the kingdom. During the panel, it was also revealed that the film would be a hybrid of the origins story and the Sleeping Beauty film. Familiar scenes like the spin wheel spindle prick and the dragon transformation would be in the film, but the overall story would from Maleficent’s point of view.
In one of the clips, we see a coronation of some sort where the kingdom is celebrating the birth of the King’s daughter. Three fairies (Juno Temple, Imelda Staunton, and Lesley Manville) would soon fly to the crib to bless the child. One would bless her with not being blue or sad, but before the green fairy would give her blessing, Maleficent shows up, and is obviously bitter about not being invited. She then walks over to the crib and proceeds to curse the baby by saying she would be in a sleep like death when she would prick her finger on a spindle on her 16th birthday.
If anything, the clips exemplified how much of Maleficent looks like a live action version of the animated Sleeping Beauty. But the spin on it is that this film would be from the villain’s point of view and not just some rehash of the classic animated film. Well have to see how all of this plays out, but judging by the reaction from the crowd, this film looks it has already found it’s fans.
Here’s the official synopsis from the film.
“Maleficent” is the untold story of Disney’s most iconic villain from the 1959 classic “Sleeping Beauty.” A beautiful, pure-hearted young woman, Maleficent has an idyllic life growing up in a peaceable forest kingdom, until one day when an invading army threatens the harmony of the land. Maleficent rises to be the land’s fiercest protector, but she ultimately suffers a ruthless betrayal—an act that begins to turn her pure heart to stone. Bent on revenge, Maleficent faces an epic battle with the invading king’s successor and, as a result, places a curse upon his newborn infant Aurora. As the child grows, Maleficent realizes that Aurora holds the key to peace in the kingdom—and perhaps to Maleficent’s true happiness as well.