Angelina Jolie has officially confirmed that she is returning to star in the title role of Maleficent 2.
The original Maleficent was Jolie’s highest grossing film to date, making $758.5 million worldwide in the box office. It tells the classic story of Sleeping Beauty from the villain’s perspective, and was one of Disney’s first live-action adaptions of animated films.
Jolie confirmed the news at the Telluride Film Festival, where she is currently promoting First They Killed My Father, which she directed. She said: “We have been working on the script and this is going to be a really strong sequel.”
Having directed four films now, Jolie revealed to Deadline that she is ready to return to acting: “I am now the breadwinner for the family so it’s time.” There have also been rumours that she might be doing Universal’s Bride Of Frankenstein.
The news gestures at Disney’s determination to get production underway as last week, they revealed that they have hired Spectre co-writer Jez Butterworth to rewrite the screenplay for the film.
The first film also starred Elle Fanning, Brenton Thwaites and Sam Riley but there has been no news yet on whether any of them will return, nor have any plot details been revealed.