Since they can’t go a short time without reimagining classic Disney characters, after this past summer’s Maleficent, the studio will be releasing an update on Cinderella this spring (followed by WB’s Peter Pan prequel this summer). Coming from Thor and Jack Ryan director Kenneth Branagh, the first full trailer has now arrived. Taking on a family-friendly approach, we have to say we’d be more curious if original director Mark Romanek ended up taking the reigns, but alas.
“It’s very loyal to the original movie, there’s some twists and changes but it takes a lot from the original animated, from the [Charles] Perrault, and from the Grimm stories,” producer Simon Kinberg tells Collider. “It’s a more dramatic version, but it’s got so much heart and sweetness and fun and magic to it; I mean Ken [Branagh] did a really incredible job, and the actors are ridiculous.” Starring Cate Blanchett, Lily James, Richard Madden, Stellan Skarsgård, Holliday Grainger, Sophie McShera, Derek Jacobi and Helena Bonham-Carter, check out the trailer below, along with a poster by Annie Leibovitz.
The story of “Cinderella” follows the fortunes of young Ella whose merchant father remarries following the tragic death of her mother. Keen to support her loving father, Ella welcomes her new stepmother Lady Tremaine and her daughters Anastasia and Drisella into the family home. But, when Ella’s father suddenly and 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 abuse her. And then there is the dashing stranger she meets in the woods. Unaware that he is really a prince, not merely an employee at the Palace, Ella finally feels she has met a kindred soul. It appears as if 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 as a kindly beggar woman steps forward and, armed with a pumpkin and a few mice, changes Cinderella’s life forever.
Cinderella opens on March 13th, 2015.