Fresh off last year’s acclaimed indie movieSorry to Bother YouandSteven Spielberg’s blockbusterReady Player One,Lakeith StanfieldandOlivia Cookeare in talks to star in an untitled fairy tale movie in the works at Disney+, Collider has confirmed.
Susan Johnson(To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before) will direct from a script byCat Vasko, whileAndrew LazarandBen Simpsonwill produce for Mad Chance. The trades have kept plot details under wraps, but according toScriptshadow, the story follows a prince who sets off on a journey with his princess-to-be in order to lift a spell that’s made her really boring. Along the way, they discover a shocking reality about their existence – they’re actually one of the Grimm fairy tales, and they’ve disrupted the entire fairy tale universe with their quest. Scriptshadow describes the story as a subversive take on fairy tales, a laShrek,Enchantedand the recent specFairy Godmother, which is in development at MGM.
I don’t know if I like the idea of a charming actress like Cooke (so good inMe and Earl and the Dying Girl) being reduced to a “boring princess,” but surely her character will take on more agency in the second half of the film, when the heroes' goal changes from “save the princess” to “save the universe.” Meanwhile, Stanfield is an interesting choice for the lead, having worked his way up from supporting roles in films such asShort Term 12,Ava DuVernay’s dramaSelmaand perhaps most notably,Jordan Peele’s horror hitGet Out. And Stanfield isn’t the only one whose career is red-hot right now.
Johnson turned heads with her Netflix movieTo All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, and just yesterday she signed on to direct an adaptation ofAnnie Hartnett’s acclaimed novelRabbit Cakefor Amazon Studios, with youngMckenna Graceset to produce and star. That film was written by Black List scribeAllie Hagan, and likewise, Vasko’s fairy tale script was also voted to the Black List, which chronicles the best-unproduced screenplays in Hollywood. Vasko apparently parlayed her script into a seat in Legendary’s Monsterverse writing room, where she and other notable writers pitched ideas for King Kong and Godzilla movies.
Stanfield stars on FX’sAtlantaand recently starred oppositeGina Rodriguezin the Netflix rom-comSomeone Great. He’ll soon be seen inRian Johnson’s murder mysteryKnives Out, and in A24’sAdam Sandlercrime dramaUncut Gems, which hails from the Safdie brothers. As for Cooke, she next stars oppositeJohn Boyegain the indie dramaNaked Singularity, and oppositeRiz AhmedinThe Sound of Metal, about a drummer who is losing his hearing. Deadline broke the news.
