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Cate Blanchett Becoming Wicked Stepmother for Disney's 'Cinderella'

by Ben Pearson
November 28, 2012
Source: The Wrap

After stepping back into Peter Jackson's Middle Earth and reprising her role as Galadriel in The Hobbit, it looks like Cate Blanchett has yet another legendary story to tell. The Wrap reports that the actress is in talks to play a lead role as the wicked stepmother in Disney's upcoming remake of Cinderella, which is set to be directed by Never Let Me Go helmer Mark Romanek after nothing really panned out with talks of him directing The Lost Symbol for Sony. The studio acquired this project back in 2010 from The Devil Wears Prada writer Aline Brosh McKenna, but Chris Weitz (The Golden Compass) has done a rewrite.

Blanchett is one of the few actresses today who seems like she could step out of a photo shoot and then immediately kick your ass, and she definitely has the ability to shoot someone a harsh look that will stop them dead in their tracks (see this scene in LOTR for proof). That looming, larger than life, vaguely threatening presence is what I remember most about the stepmother in Disney's animated classic, and Blanchett seems like a great fit for a live action version of that character.

Disney seems like it's really serious about breathing new life into some of their old properties, but are we going to see this story told from the evil stepmother's perspective, like how we'll see Angelina Jolie's Maleficent? That angle will get old quickly, so let's hope Weitz and Romanek can work out something fresh if the studio insists on revisiting old properties like this.

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