Fairy Whispers Us An Update On "Maleficent"

                       

Fan made posters for Maleficent.

Please note the release date has been changed to July 2, 2014

Bringing you a few teeny fairy whispers on Maleficent today but first let's round up what we know so far:

It's been very quite on the Maleficent front with everyone remaining pretty tight-lipped about the movie. All we really know so far is that it's well into the effects stage and post production (with Pinewood Studios at one stage making a statement of the Maleficent workload being "huge" and that in the future "I think we're going to need a bigger boat, er, studio.."). We know Angelina Jolie got into her Maleficent role via some "serious pranking" on set while filming the Sleeping Beauty-flipped film and we also know that one of Ms. Jolie's children, Vivienne, is set to make her acting debut as the young Princess Aurora (Elle Fanning plays the older version).

Elle Fanning herself admits to being a complete Angelina Jolie fan, with nothing but praise for her on and off set. About Maleficent herself, Fanning said:
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“She was very elegant. She had the neatest costume. The costume had horns. She looked so good. And her character definitely has evil moments. But you get to see how the character became who she is, why she is so mean. You get to see the backstory of Maleficent’s life. The film is seen through her eyes." (Source)

We also something about the rest of the cast and a very basic description of their roles. Here's a quick headshot roundup, along with some character descriptions (mostly excerpted from The Last Reel, mid-last year):

Written by Linda Woolverton the (live-action) film takes "Sleeping Beauty" and switches the focus to the evil Queen (Angelina Jolie) of the story.  

Miranda Richardson is set for the part of Queen Ulla, who has a less than peachy relationship with her niece Maleficent. 

India Eisley will appear in the first act of Maleficent as a younger version of Jolie’s character, establishing her place in the fairy kingdom’s hierarchy. 

Imelda Staunton and Lesley Manville, meanwhile, will play Knotgrass and Flittle. They comprise two of the three pixies who take care of Aurora. 

Sam Riley has been cast as Diaval, Maleficent’s right-hand man — or rather, right-hand raven who can take human form. 

Elle Fanning would play somnolent Princess Aurora. 

Kenneth Cranham will play a human king who plots to conquer the world of fairies.  

Sharlto Copley will play King Stefan (Cranham's bastard son). His role is described as "the half-human, half-fairy bastard son of the human king. (addtl. source 1, addtl. source 2)

Apart from this, there hasn't been a whole more more to tell until a little fairy let slip some details in an interview yesterday (Aug 7).

Actress Juno Temple is mostly known for her very dark and adult roles in gritty films but she's getting ready to show us a different side of herself - the side that plays a teeny, tiny fairy Thistletwit (who's also described as neglectful and superficial) in Disney's Maleficent.


From IndieWire:

Fan made poster

And on the complete opposite side of things, you're in "Maleficent." 

Yeah I can't wait for little kids to actually be able to see something I'm in. That was, again, an amazing experience – doing wires and headgear and these big bubbles and stuff. 

And getting able to work with Leslie Manville and Imelda Staunton, these two British actresses who are absolute geniuses; they have such an amazing ability to tap into their inner 8-year-old and make everything fun. 

How was Angelina? 

She was lovely but I didn't get to do any actual filming with her because all my scenes that are with her are with a giant Styrofoam version of her. 

Disney's Maleficent is set to release in theaters on July 2, 2014.