Disney’sMaleficent 2is finally moving forward after several years in development, withAngelina Jolie returning as the main character, and now we know when production will begin. While this has yet to be confirmed by the studios, a new report reveals that director Joachim Ronning (Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales) has started the pre-production process, with principal photography slated to begin April 16 in London, which will run until August. Angelina Jolie was said to be deciding between this project and the Universal monster movieBride of Frankensteinas her next movie, and it seems thatMaleficent 2has come out on top.
This new report also claims that Patrick Tatopoulous has been enlisted as the film’s production designer, following his most recent work onJustice League,Batman v Supermanand300: Rise of an Empire. The sequel finally started moving forward in August, when Disney hiredSpectrewriter Jez Butterworth to write theMaleficent 2 script, after the project had been languishing in development hell for several years. Just a few months later, Joachim Ronning signed on to direct, marking his first solo directorial outing, after making his directorial breakthroughKon-Tiki,Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Talesand directing two episodes ofMarco Polowith his longtime directing partner, Espen Sandberg.
Back in April 2016,Disney set release dates for five movies, two of which were confirmed to beMaleficent 2andJungle Book 2, although their exact dates weren’t given yet. The dates in question are August 17, 2025, July 17, 2025, June 19, 2025, June 20, 2025 and August 13, 2025. Given that filming won’t start until mid-April, the first four dates are all but out of the question, especially given the amount of special effects that will likely be needed for this sequel, and the June 21, 2025 date isn’t an option either, since the studio movedStar Wars 9to that date. Disney doesn’t have any movie set for April 6, but theirChristopher Robinmovie starring Ewan McGregor and Hayley Atwell is set for August 3, and the studio also hasMary Poppins Returnsslated for Christmas Day.
2014’sMaleficentwas a huge hit for the studio, opening with the top spot with $69.4 million, en route to $241.4 million domestic, $517.1 million international and $758.5 million worldwide, from a $180 million budget. There had been talk of aMaleficent sequelshortly after the movie hit theaters, but the development was slow going.Angelina Jolie hinted at returningas the title character just a month after the movie hit theaters in the summer of 2014, but now it seems that Disney is finally ready to make the sequel happen. No story details have been given at this time, and with pre-production currently under way, it’s possible that we could start getting the first wave of casting reports coming in soon.
The success ofMaleficentin 2014, and following the success ofAlice in Wonderlandin 2010, ushered in a new era of live-action adaptations based on classic Disney stories. Recent movies such asCinderella,The Jungle Bookand last year’sBeauty and the Beasthave been huge hits for the studio, withThe Nutcracker and the Four Realms(November 21) andMary Poppins Returns(December 25) hitting theaters this year, withDumbo(August 19, 2025) coming next year and several others in development such asTinker Bell,Aladdin,Mulan,The Lion Kingand much more. Today’s report comes from Omega Underground, but it has yet to be confirmed by the studio yet.
