deadline
EXCLUSIVE: Joachim Rønning, who helmed Jerry Bruckheimer’s and Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, is in talks to direct another Disney tentpole franchise: the sequel to the studio’s 2014 worldwide box office hit Maleficent. Angelina Jolie confirmed to Deadline earlier this month that she was going to return as the lead character based on the nemesis first introduced in the studio’s 1959 fairy tale Sleeping Beauty. The project is expected to go before the cameras in the first quarter of 2018.
Jez Butterworth and Linda Woolverton had been working on the script for producer Joe Roth, we’ve been told. Rønning has also been attached to direct the screen version of Michael Crichton’s last novel Micro for Amblin Entertainment and producer Frank Marshall; he is also expected back on the next Pirates installment for Disney and Bruckheimer. Rønning is also working with Bruckheimer writing and attached to direct Origins, an original pitch that Paramount picked up pre-emptively. His brother Andreas is working with him on the script.
Maleficent, which dropped during the same weekend three years earlier broke records its opening weekend of $69.4M and went onto to make $758.5M worldwide.
Jolie’s First They Killed My Father is Cambodia’s submission this year for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar. The movie, both directed and co-written by Jolie, is about author and human rights activist Loung Ung’s life under the rule of the deadly Khmer Rouge. It premiered in Telluride and then went on to Toronto where it won strong praise. The story is told through Ung’s eyes, from the age of five, when the Khmer Rouge came to power.
Rønning is repped by UTA and Brillstein Entertainment Partners. Jolie is repped by UTA, Media Talent Group and Sloane, Offer, Weber & Dern.
From @DisneyPirates to @Maleficent: Joachim Ronning in talks to direct the sequel, Angelina Jolie reprising her role https://t.co/ipN6Vi7m6b pic.twitter.com/a0ZMwQQyTe— Hollywood Reporter (@THR) October 3, 2017
Joachim Ronning, who co-directed the most recent Pirates of the Caribbean installment, is in talks to direct the Maleficent sequel for Disney, The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed.
Angeline Jolie will return to star in the live-action take of the famous animated villain, reprising her role from the 2014 hit that grossed $758 million at the global box office. Robert Stromberg directed the first installment, which also starred Elle Fanning in the film centering on the Sleeping Beauty villain.
Joe Roth will produce, with Jez Butterworth and Linda Woolverton working on the screenplay.
Ronning first caught Hollywood's attention as the co-director of the Norwegian feature Kon-Tiki, which was nominated for the best foreign language Oscar in 2013. His first big English-language feature was Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, which earned $794 at the global box office.
The filmmaker is attached to a number of projects including a sci-fi feature Origin that would see him re-team with Pirates producer Jerry Bruckheimer. He is repped by UTA.
“Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales” helmer Joachim Ronning is in talks to direct Disney’s “Maleficent 2.”Angelina Jolie's #Maleficent2 taps 'Pirates of the Caribbean' director Joachim Ronning https://t.co/Rs8H1mP7lc pic.twitter.com/DVwgfPBXF6— Variety (@Variety) October 3, 2017
Angelina Jolie will return in the title role.
Joe Roth is producing, with Jez Butterworth and Linda Woolverton penning the latest draft.
It is unknown where this film will pick up following the first movie, which was based on the fairy tale “Sleeping Beauty.” The original centered on an evil fairy who cursed an infant princess to eternal sleep, only to realize the young girl was the only one who could save the kingdom from its dangerous ruler. That film broke several box office records on its way to making $758.5 million worldwide.
Production on the sequel is set to start in early 2018.
Ronning’s “Pirates of the Caribbean” installment grossed $794.6 million worldwide. He is still attached to direct Amblin Entertainment’s adaptation of the Michael Crichton novel “Micro” and is also developing the pitch “Origins” for Paramount.
He is repped by UTA and Brillstein Entertainment Partners. The news was first reported by Deadline Hollywood.
