Disney are certainly not showing any signs of stopping when it comes to churning out live-action remakes of old classics. So far, there have been live-action makeovers of Alice in Wonderland, Maleficent (aka Sleeping Beauty), Cinderella, The Jungle Book and Beauty and the Beast. And that’s not including the ones in pre-production or due to be released, such as Mary Poppins (starring Emily Blunt), The Lion King, Mulan, Cruella De Vil, Winnie the Pooh and Aladdin (to name just a few). Basically, everything is getting the live-action treatment, and we’re over the moon about it.
Just days after it was announced that Disney had finally cast its leads in the Aladdin reboot, the names of the stars who will bring to life the retelling of The Nutcracker in the live-action film have been released, and it’s shaping up to be a truly star-studded cast. Keira Knightley will star as the Sugar Plum Fairy; Helen Mirren as the villainous Mother Ginger; Mackenzie Foy (known for playing Renesmee Cullen in The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn) as Clara; and Morgan Freeman as Clara’s godfather Drosselmeyer. Also in the cast is Miranda Hart, Ellie Bamber, comedian Jack Whitehall and Matthew Macfadyen. Misty Copeland – the internationally-renowned American ballet dancer – will also feature in the film.
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The film – titled The Nutcracker and the Four Realms - will be based on E.T.A Hoffman’s 1861 story The Nutcracker and the Mouse King, which is famously set at Christmastime and centres on a young girl named Clara whose favourite toy, a nutcracker, comes to life and takes her to a magical kingdom inhabited by dolls.
The story of The Nutcracker is perhaps best known for its ballet adaptation, with Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky at the helm of the iconic musical score.
The release date of the upcoming film – which will be directed by Lasse Hallström - was announced during Disney's D23 Expo. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the film will take the 2018 Christmas slot - originally reserved for the Mulan reboot - and will land in cinemas on 2 November 2018. Also at the D23 Expo, Disney previewed teaser clips of the cinematography and set design – the DoP for The Nutcracker, Linus Sandgren, recently won an Oscar for his work on La La Land, so we are expecting great things.
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