Disney’s Maleficent gets a release date

Disney has confirmed the release for Angelina Jolie’s MALEFICENT. It will hit theaters March 14, 2014.

While that is still almost two years away, the film seems to be chugging along nicely. The press release from Disney also touts production designer Robert Stromberg (AVATAR, ALICE IN WONDERLAND, OZ THE GREAT AND POWERFUL), screenwriter Linda Woolverton (BEAUTY AND THE BEAST), and producer Joe Roth (ALICE IN WONDERLAND, OZ THE GREAT AND POWERFUL.

We also get the closest thing to a plot synopsis as well: the live-action film explores the origins of the evil fairy Maleficent and what led her to curse Princess Aurora in Disney’s animated classic Sleeping Beauty.

There are two ways that this movie could go. It could follow the SNOW WHITE AND THE HUNTSMAN route and tell a dark and original tale grounded in the same fairy tale or it could be loud, bombastic, and brightly colored like MIRROR, MIRROR or the aforementioned ALICE IN WONDERLAND. I am hoping against hope that Disney will create a film that challenges the viewed instead of making a family friendly princess movie. Disney has taken some darker chances with the PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN movies, so hopefully they will aim for a more sinister tone with this film.