1st Set pics

Hi-res from @UniversalPicsAU

Click to see full size

Elle.com.au

Press release (via /Film)

Academy Award® winner Angelina Jolie directs and produces Unbroken, an epic drama that follows the incredible life of Olympian and war hero Louis “Louie” Zamperini (Jack O’Connell) who, along with two other crewmen, survived in a raft for 47 days after a near-fatal plane crash in WWII—only to be caught by the Japanese Navy and sent to a prisoner-of-war camp.
Director Jolie began shooting some of the most dramatic and challenging scenes on Wednesday, October 16, on location far out at sea in Moreton Bay, Australia, with Zamperini (O’Connell) and his fellow airmen—Phil (Domhnall Gleeson) and Mac (Finn Wittrock)—having impossibly survived being adrift in the open Pacific for several weeks.
Working with cameras on a floating rig in choppy waters and braving the elements, with actors dieting for months to appear as depleted as their characters, Jolie completed a successful first day of a location shoot that promises to be rigorous and uniquely challenging.
Adapted from Laura Hillenbrand’s (“Seabiscuit: An American Legend”) enormously popular book, Unbroken brings to the big screen Zamperini’s unbelievable and inspiring true story about the resilient power of the human spirit.
Starring alongside O’Connell, Gleeson and Wittrock are Garrett Hedlund and John Magaro as fellow POWs who find an unexpected camaraderie during their internment, Alex Russell as Zamperini’s brother, Pete, and in his English-language feature debut, Japanese actor Miyavi as the brutal camp guard known only to the men as “The Bird.”
The film is produced by Jolie, as well as Matthew Baer (City by the Sea), Erwin Stoff (The Day the Earth Stood Still) and Clayton Townsend (This Is 40). Leading the accomplished behind-the-scenes crew is 10-time Oscar®-nominated cinematographer Roger Deakins (Skyfall).
Academy Award® winners Joel and Ethan Coen (No Country for Old Men) rewrote the screenplay from earlier drafts by William Nicholson (Les Misérables) and Richard LaGravenese (HBO’s Behind the Candelabra).
Unbroken arrives in theaters on Christmas Day, 2014.

pajiba

First Look: Angelina Jolie Is Turning This Year's Best Book Club Book Into A Movie

By Joanna Robinson | Trade News | November 1, 2013

I say “this year’s best” but, in actuality, Laura Hillenbrand’s book, Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption came out in November, 2010. AND IT’S STILL IN HARDCOVER. For a little perspective on how crazy popular this book has been, paperbacks come out one year after initial publication and the only time publishers break this rule is when they think a book is popular enough that you’d be willing to slap down the extra cash to get it. This money grab (can you blame the floundering publishers?) is usually reserved for juggernaut series books. Dance With Dragons? Just over two years. Catching Fire? Just under four years. Mockingjay? Still no sign. But it’s incredible that this harrowing true story of three men who, against all odds, struggled to survive for 47 days on a life raft after their WWII plane crashed into the ocean has been as popular as those of Dany and Katniss, the girls on fire.
Laura Hillenbrand, of course, wrote the fantastic book Seabiscuit and has a knack for making even the most foreign industries (horse racing? really?) fascinating. Her books read like gripping novels. So imagine how enthralling she made a life or death story like this. I loved the movie Seabiscuit but I have even higher hopes for this film, adapted by The Coen Brothers and Richard LaGravenese (Behind The Candelabra). This will be Angelina Jolie’s second time directing and her comment on the process is exactly the blend of intelligence and just a smidge of sanctimony we’ve come to expect from her. On shooting out on open waters: “On set, we started to joke and say, ‘Tomorrow will be easier,’ knowing full well that on this challenging shoot, there are no easy days. Anytime it gets tough, we think of the real men who lived through this, and no one complains. In fact, we all just feel honored to be here.”
The three young actors are relatively unknown: Domnhall Gleeson (Harry Potter, About Time), Finn Wittrock (All My Children), and Jack O’Connell (Skins). So, in case you’re counting, that two soap stars and a Weasley in a boat.  The movie is slated to be released next Christmas which means you have a whole year to do the reading.

I say “this year’s best” but, in actuality, Laura Hillenbrand’s book, Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption came out in November, 2010. AND IT’S STILL IN HARDCOVER. For a little perspective on how crazy popular this book has been, paperbacks come out one year after initial publication and the only time publishers break this rule is when they think a book is popular enough that you’d be willing to slap down the extra cash to get it. This money grab (can you blame the floundering publishers?) is usually reserved for juggernaut series books. Dance With Dragons? Just over two years. Catching Fire? Just under four years. Mockingjay? Still no sign. But it’s incredible that this harrowing true story of three men who, against all odds, struggled to survive for 47 days on a life raft after their WWII plane crashed into the ocean has been as popular as those of Dany and Katniss, the girls on fire.
Laura Hillenbrand, of course, wrote the fantastic book Seabiscuit and has a knack for making even the most foreign industries (horse racing? really?) fascinating. Her books read like gripping novels. So imagine how enthralling she made a life or death story like this. I loved the movie Seabiscuit but I have even higher hopes for this film, adapted by The Coen Brothers and Richard LaGravenese (Behind The Candelabra). This will be Angelina Jolie’s second time directing and her comment on the process is exactly the blend of intelligence and just a smidge of sanctimony we’ve come to expect from her. On shooting out on open waters: “On set, we started to joke and say, ‘Tomorrow will be easier,’ knowing full well that on this challenging shoot, there are no easy days. Anytime it gets tough, we think of the real men who lived through this, and no one complains. In fact, we all just feel honored to be here.”
The three young actors are relatively unknown: Domnhall Gleeson (Harry Potter, About Time), Finn Wittrock (All My Children), and Jack O’Connell (Skins). So, in case you’re counting, that two soap stars and a Weasley in a boat. Here are a few early snaps courtesy of Entertainment Weekly. The movie is slated to be released next Christmas which means you have a whole year to do the reading.

Read more at http://www.pajiba.com/trade_news/first-look-angelina-jolie-is-turning-this-years-best-book-club-book-into-a-movie.php#imk5eK5QiUDgeH4u.99

The Playlist

by Kevin Jagernauth
October 31, 2013 3:33 PM

Meanwhile, the Oscar bonafids are already in play for Angelina Jolie's "Unbroken." WWII story? Check. Script from celebrated writers ie. Coen Brothers? Check. Christmas Day release date next year? Check. And Universal is getting the word out early, showing behind-the-scenes snaps of Jolie hard at work on the movie. What's it about? Well, it's an epic drama that follows the incredible life of Olympian and war hero Louis “Louie” Zamperini who, along with two other crewmen, survived in a raft for 47 days after a near-fatal plane crash in WWII—only to be caught by the Japanese Navy and sent to a prisoner-of-war camp. Jack O’Connell, Domhnall Gleeson, Garrett Hedlund, Finn Wittrock, John Magaro, Alex Russell and Miyavi star.







EW

Angelina Jolie's 'Unbroken': First photos from set -- EXCLUSIVE

By Sara Vilkomerson on Oct 31, 2013 at 9:00AM

Earlier this month Angelina Jolie began production on her second directorial feature, Unbroken, due in theaters Christmas 2014. The film is adapted from Laura Hillenbrand’s bestseller of the same name and tells the true and incredible story of Louis Zamperini, an Olympic runner who, while enlisted during World War II, survived a plane crash into the ocean. And that’s just the beginning of the trials Zamperini faced: he spent 47 days adrift on a raft in the Pacific only to then be imprisoned in a brutal Japanese POW camp for over two years.

“On set, we started to joke and say, ‘Tomorrow will be easier,’ knowing full well that on this challenging shoot, there are no easy days,” Jolie says via email. “Anytime it gets tough, we think of the real men who lived through this, and no one complains. In fact, we all just feel honored to be here.”

In the photo above, Jolie is on set in Australia’s Moreton Bay. More exclusive photos, including one of Jack O’Connell as Zamperini and Finn Wittrock (with safety driver Carla Thexton), below:




Because production began with Zamperini (played by Jack O’Connell) and fellow airmen and raftmates Russell Allen Phillips and Francis McNamara (Domnhall Gleeson and Finn Wittrock) marooned at sea, the actors arrived on location in Moreton Bay starvation-skinny after an extreme diet protocol. “We’ve begun with the character’s lowest points, though, so I’m looking forward to when [Zamperini’s] in top form,” says O’Connell. “Perhaps the makeup will be less extensive so I might get a lie-in, compared to the current 3:30 a.m. calls.”

Kidding aside, the actor feels honored to be playing Zamperini, whom he’s met with twice. “Both times I came away feeling awe-struck,” he says. He has similar feelings for his director, whom he says he likes to think of as the World’s Best Boss. He’s not the only one impressed by Jolie. “She’s extremely bright and subtle-minded and absolutely devoted to getting it right,” says Hillenbrand, who speaks with Jolie regularly. “She wants every detail to be true. It’s easy to fudge things. It’s hard to be devoted to doing things right. She’s taking the hard path.”

As for Zamperini himself, now 96, Hillenbrand reports that he’s excited about the film — and its director: “He always says, ‘I volunteer to be in the movie as long as I can play Angelina’s boyfriend.”

Below: Jolie and first assistant director Joe Reidy (far left) watch over Domnhall Gleeson, who plays fellow survivor Russell Phillips.



See the original post at EW



Empire

First Look At Angelina Jolie's Unbroken
Bridge On The River Pi


31 October 2013  |  Written by Phil de Semlyen  |  Source: Universal Pictures

For Angelina Jolie's second directorial project, Unbroken, she's headed out into the Pacific to recreate the remarkable wartime exploits of downed US airman Louis Zamperini. It's a bold and potentially brilliantly conceived undertaking: an uplifting, against-all-the-odds tale of courage, disaster, endurance and survival. If that doesn't win your attention, it will have sharks. Lots and lots of sharks.

Happily, none of the toothy critters cameo in these first-look pics of Jolie and her cast and crew in action. Eschewing the old Hollywood maxim of never shooting at sea - and water tanks for a floating rig - Team Unbroken has been hard at work on location in Australia's Moreton Bay this month. In the rafts are Jack O’Connell as Zamperini and  Domhnall Gleeson and Finn Wittrock as fellow flyers Russel Allen 'Phil' Phillips and Francis 'Mac' McNamara. If they look gaunt, that's because they are: their director insisted upon a crash diet that left them physically resembling the starving aircrew as they drifted across the Pacific.

Gleeson is probably the most seasoned of the cast but Harry Brown’s O’Connell is the star of the show as Zamperini, an LA high school athlete who raced in the 1936 Berlin Olympics. During World War II, his Air Force plane crashed in the Pacific, leaving him without food and water for 28 days, enduring shark attacks, strafings and hunger. He finally washed ashore on a Japanese island behind enemy lines, where he was held as a prisoner of war for two years and tortured by his captors.

With a script that's been worked on by Richard LaGravenese, William Nicholson and the Coen brothers at different points, and Roger Deakins behind the camera, it's bound to look and sound amazing. Jolie's dedication to the story should ensure all these elements combine into something both rollicking and Oscary when it's released on January 16, 2015.

DailyMail

Brad Pitt gets down and dirty as he shoots tank scenes on set of new World War Two movie

By Daily Mail Reporter
PUBLISHED: 10:00 EST, 31 October 2013 | UPDATED: 10:36 EST, 31 October 2013


The actor has been shooting in the Oxfordshire countryside for upcoming World War Two epic, Fury.
The 47-year-old was spotted emerging from a tank in full military attire on Thursday.

Tank action! Brad Pitt was spotted filming in the Oxfordshire countryside on Thursday

The shooting of the action blockbuster, which involves a lot of heavy machinery, tents and extras, will be stationed on private land near Shirburn until the middle of next month, according to an earlier BBC report.

The website also said that rresidents had been warned to expect 'intermittent controlled gunfire and explosives' during the making of film.

Fury, which is scheduled to hit cinemas in November 2014, tells the story of a crew of a Sherman tank taking on a dangerous mission in the final weeks of the war.
Written by director David Ayer, the film sees the crew take on a desperate German division facing an almost hopeless predicament.

Power couple: Brad with Angelina Jolie, who is currently on the other side of the world filming in Queensland

Hard at work: Pitt and LaBeouf filming together earlier this month

Read the original post at DailyMail

First Look

The First Photo of Angelina Jolie as Maleficent!

Click to see full size

Credit: Greg Williams/Disney
Source: Walt Disney Pictures

June 19, 2012

Burbank, CA  (June 19, 2012) – The Walt Disney Studios announced today that production began Wednesday, June 13th, on “Maleficent,” starring Academy Award®–winning actress Angelina Jolie.

Directed by two-time Oscar®-winning production designer Robert Stromberg (“Avatar,” “Alice in Wonderland”), in his directorial debut, and produced by Joe Roth, “Maleficent” is written by Linda Woolverton (“The Lion King,” “Beauty and the Beast”) and executive produced by Angelina Jolie, Don Hahn, Matt Smith and Palak Patel.

Co-starring in the film are Sharlto Copley (“District 9”), Elle Fanning (“Super 8”), Sam Riley (“On the Road”), Imelda Staunton (“Vera Drake”), Miranda Richardson (“The Hours”), Juno Temple (“Atonement”) and Lesley Manville (“Secrets & Lies”).

This is the untold story of Disney’s most beloved villain, Maleficent, from the 1959 classic “Sleeping Beauty.” The film reveals the events that hardened her heart and drove her to curse the baby, Aurora.

Behind-the-scenes talent includes Academy Award®–winning cinematographer Dean Semler (“Dances with Wolves,” “In the Land of Blood and Honey”), production designer Gary Freeman (“Saving Private Ryan,” “The Bourne Supremacy”), two-time Oscar® nominated costume designer Anna B. Sheppard (“Schindler’s List,” “The Pianist”) and seven-time Academy Award–winning makeup artist Rick Baker (“Planet of the Apes,” “Men in Black”).

“Maleficent” is scheduled for a March 14, 2014 release in 3D.






Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Greg Williams/Disney

Published Jun 19, 2012

Evil Queens are all the rage: first everyone went crazy for Charlize Theron in Snow White & the Huntsman, and now, she gains her reprise in Maleficent, the re-telling of Sleeping Beauty. While we certainly won’t denounce the beguiling looks of Ms. Theron, Angelina Jolie taking the role of Evil Queen somehow seems more… appropriate (all that United Nations humanitarian work aside, of course). The vixen looks every bit the part with sharply contoured cheeks, wild contact lenses, blood-red lips, and dramatic mascara. We love the look and can’t wait to see more, but until then, here are some wickedly-packaged products that we can use to channel our inner Queen. (It is Pride Week in New York, after all.) —Phillip Picardi


Anthony Breznican ‏@Breznican

Angelina Jolie will make #Maleficent the first fairytale movie dads will drag their kids to see: http://insidemovies.ew.com/2012/06/19/first-look-maleficent/

Palak Patel ‏@palakspatel

Our next film we're shooting“@NikkiFinke: Get An Eyeful Of Angelina Jolie As ‘Maleficent’ As Disney Film Gets Underway http://dlvr.it/1kxJ9D”


Arjen ‏@Creature_kid

Maleficent! hard work but it's getting there.


Brenton Thwaites ‏@ThwaitesBrenton

My new friend Angelina Jolie in her first photo from #Maleficent. http://pic.twitter.com/W0nR2j80

 

First Look At Angelina Jolie In Character As Disney's 'Maleficent'

News by Oliver Lyttelton | June 19, 2012 10:27 AM

It took a little time, but the fairytale movie duck was broken a few weeks back when "Snow White And The Huntsman" proved to be a solid hit. More recent pictures based on fables and legends, like "Red Riding Hood" and "Mirror Mirror," had mostly underperformed, but SWATH proved that there's plenty of gold to be mined from the sub-genre, and many must have breathed a sigh of relief, not least Disney, who have a number of live-action properties based on their animated fairytale classics in the works. So they've ploughed on ahead with the next of them: "Maleficent," which sees Angelina Jolie play the wicked sorceress who torments Sleeping Beauty in the Disney version of the tale. A one-time Tim Burton project, the film's finally moving ahead with veteran production designer Robert Stromberg at the helm, and with a script by Linda Woolverton ("Alice In Wonderland"). Shooting got underway today, with Disney sending out the first image of Jolie in the film to celebrate the occasion.
As you can see, she looks the part nicely, but then that's hardly a surprise, is it?... We're a little wary to see so many "Alice In Wonderland" veterans involved, but we've heard good things about the script. And the supporting cast, led by Elle Fanning as the narcoleptic pretty-pants, and also including Sharlto Copley, Sam Riley, Juno Temple, Imelda Staunton, Lesley Manville and Miranda Richardson, is promising. We'll find out how it works when the film hits theaters on March 14th, 2014 in, as you might imagine, 3D.

First Pic Of Angelina Jolie's Maleficent
Disney villainess gets her horns on

19 June 2012  |  Written by Phil de Semlyen 

Disney's alt.fairy tale Maleficent starts shooting today and to mark the occasion in style, the studio has given everyone a free pass to the Magic Kingdom with special valet parking by Goofy. OK, they haven't, but they have released a stunning first look at the movie's title character, the magnificently moody villain as played by Angelina Jolie. Yes, the horns are still there. No, we're no longer sore about the valet parking thing.

In fact, we've reached for the Empire dictionary and pulled out the word 'chiaroscuro' to describe this beautiful blend of light and shadow.  Jolie hardly needs help to look good but by the looks of things director Robert Stromberg, production designer on Alice In Wonderland and Avatar, is giving it to her anyway. And check out that gleam in her eye - doesn't that look rather dragon-y?

Jolie has described Maleficent as more than the traditional villainess who'll transform into a dragon and hit "scorch" at the first sniff of a grievance. In short, it's Maleficent's journey to the place we found her in Sleeping Beauty. “I hope in the end you see a woman who is capable of being many things", she told EW, "and just because she protects herself and is aggressive, it doesn’t mean she can’t have other warmer qualities. You have to figure out the puzzle of what she is.”

Colour us excited. Joining her for the ride are Sharlto Copley, Elle Fanning, Lesley Manville, Sam Riley, Imelda Staunton, Juno Temple and Miranda Richardson. The film's scheduled for a March 14, 2014 release in the US, and should be out here around the same time.

Jun 19 2012 11:22 AM EDT

Angelina Jolie Is 'Maleficent' In First Official Photo

The Oscar-winning actress hits the screen as the evil Disney sorceress in the March 2014 fantasy flick, which began production Tuesday.

By Josh Wigler (@RoundHoward)

 

Say it with me now, people: Bad has never looked so good.

Disney has premiered the first look at Angelina Jolie in "Maleficent," the long-awaited retelling of Sleeping Beauty's magically gifted nemesis. The movie is billed as "the untold story of Disney's most beloved villain," one that dives into "the events that hardened her heart and drove her to curse the baby, Aurora." Our first look at Jolie as the titular sorceress comes accompanied with the news that production has officially started on "Maleficent" as of Tuesday (June 19), with a targeted 3-D release date of March 14, 2014.

Angelina Jolie Talks 'Maleficent' Script

That date can't come soon enough, frankly. "Maleficent" has been years in the making already: First announced in January 2010 with Tim Burton attached as director, "Maleficent" was little more than talk in the months that followed.

"I would love to [make 'Maleficent']. It's all new and being discussed, but I loved her when I was a little girl, she was my favorite," Jolie told MTV News in July 2010. "And Tim [Burton]... the chance to work with him would just be extraordinary."

When we caught up with her again almost a full year later, Jolie's stance remained the same: "Maleficent" would be a great opportunity, but it was still "all new and being discussed." It wasn't until the beginning of 2012 that the project finally started gaining traction, with "Avatar" and "Alice in Wonderland" production designer Robert Stromberg replacing Burton as director and Jolie later confirming that "Maleficent" would be her first acting gig in two years.

Fast-forward to today and the movie is now in production, with a great first look at Jolie as Maleficent and a strong cast including Sharlto Copley and Elle Fanning lined up — not to mention a firm release date on the calendar to boot. But like Jolie did many times over the course of the project's development, we'll gladly repeat ourselves now: "Maleficent" can't come soon enough.

Are you excited to see Jolie as Maleficent? Let us know in the comments below! Check out everything we've got on "Maleficent."

First Look: Angelina Jolie as the evil sorceress 'Maleficent' -- BREAKING

by Anthony Breznican

“I’ve already got my horns fitted. My kids are very happy.”

Most moms don’t get the chance to say something like that, but Angelina Jolie is an unusual case.

When she said this to EW, plans for the film version of Maleficent were still a few months off, but production is now underway on the update to the 1959 animated classic Sleeping Beauty.

Disney has released the first image of the actress as the villainess in this live-action twist, which focuses not on the good princess Aurora, but on the backstory that led Maleficent to turn against the fairy-tale kingdom.

Image Credit: Greg Williams

The horns look less like demonic protrusions of bone and more of a stylistic choice, kind of like the world’s most terrifying turban, with straps of leather seeming to wrap around her head. It’s actually fairly faithful to the original animated version, which on closer look also seemed to have horns that were made from bound together layers.

Even though this will be a family movie, there’s no denying the frightening visage of Jolie’s evil fairy. (Remember, she’s not a queen, folks.) There’s a kind of vampire quality to the tipped back head and slightly parted, blood-red lips, and of course the glowing eye — pure nasty.

The 3-D film, set to debut March 14, 2014 — a long ways off — co-stars Super 8‘s Elle Fanning as Aurora and is directed by Robert Stromberg, the Oscar-winning production designer of Avatar and Alice in Wonderland. Joe Roth (Alice in Wonderland, Snow White and the Huntsman) is producing with Jolie, Don Hahn, Matt Smith and Palak Patel executive producing.

Other co-stars include Sharlto Copley (District 9), Sam Riley (On the Road), Imelda Staunton (Dolores Umbridge from Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix), Miranda Richardson (Sleepy Hollow), Juno Temple (Atonement) and Lesley Manville (Secrets & Lies).

Here’s what Jolie had to say about the character in a recent interview with EW:

In this version, Sleeping Beauty is the nemesis instead of the good guy?
It’s not anti-princess, but it’s the first time they’re looking at this epic woman.
Is it sympathetic to her, or is she a straight-up villain?
It’s both. I hope in the end you see a woman who is capable of being many things, and just because she protects herself and is aggressive, it doesn’t mean she can’t have other [warmer] qualities. You have to figure out the puzzle of what she is.
 

So there are some redeeming qualities to Maleficent the witch?
It sounds really crazy to say that there will be something that’s good for young girls in this, because it sounds like you’re saying they should be a villain. [Maleficent] is actually a great person. But she’s not perfect. She’s far from perfect.
There’s a tradition of taking a classic character who is a villain and telling the story from his or her perspective. John Gardner did it with the 1971 novel Grendel, and more recently we got the witch’s story in Gregory Maguire’s Wicked, and the musical it inspired. We like it when the bad guy is deeper than we thought.
In general, it’s a very good message to say, “Let’s look at something from the other side.” But then also, what our challenge will be — and the script writer [The Lion King and Alice in Wonderland’s Linda Woolverton] has already cracked it — is not to simplify it, not to just reverse the story but tell a bigger story that doesn’t point the finger [at Princess Aurora] either. It doesn’t flip it.
Since it’s a Disney film, will this version of Maleficent be close to the one we know from their 1959 animated film?
We’re still figuring out the look. We’re experimenting with different things. But the horns are the horns — you can’t deny them. You have to have horns.
Follow @breznican

Angelina's children 'very happy' about her evil Disney role

20 JUNE 2012 Angelina Jolie's little ones are beside themselves with excitement over their mum's new role.

The Hollywood beauty is to play Disney villainess Maleficent.

Angelina is seen with the famous horned headpiece as she takes the title role of the Sleeping Beauty sorceress in the forthcoming fairytale spin-off, which has started production.

The 36-year-old - who is executive producer on the project - also has yellow eyes and chiselled cheekbones as she transforms from being doting mother-of-six and fiancée to Brad Pitt, into the self-proclaimed 'mistress of all evil' for the movie.

"I'm having a lot of fun. I've already got my horns fitted. My kids are very happy," she told Entertainment Weekly.

Elle Fanning, Sharlto Copley and Sam Riley are on board Robert Stromberg's directorial debut, alongside Imelda Staunton, Miranda Richardson, Juno Temple and Lesley Manville.

The 3D film, which has been written by Linda Woolverton and is scheduled for release in 2014, reveals the events that hardened Maleficent's heart and drove her to curse the baby, Aurora, played by Elle.

The 36-year-old also confessed it's good to be bad - although there are some redeeming qualities to the character.

"It sounds really crazy to say that there will be something that's good for young girls in this, because it sounds like you're saying they should be a villain," she said.

"It's not anti-princess, but it's the first time they're looking at this epic woman [in a different way]. It's a really great script."


 Angelina Jolie shows her horns in the first image from ‘Maleficent’: amazing?


AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.
This is the “first image” of Angelina Jolie in character as the biggest, baddest villainess EVER, Maleficent. Maleficent is the villainess of the Sleeping Beauty story, and the “retelling” of the classic story is being done by Disney – a live action dark fairy tale in the vein of Snow White and the Huntsman and all of those other live-action fairy tale reboots that have been coming out lately. I’m actually looking forward to this one, though. For several reasons:
1. HER HORNS!!! I love Maleficent’s horns, and if you really look at those things, they are beautifully crafted. This gives me hope that the costumes will be awesome. Think about the magnificent capes, cloaks and sacks Angelina will get to wear! THEN ADD HORNS.
2. Angelina is good at playing “big” scenery-chewing characters. I would actually argue that big characters are her strength, whereas she isn’t great at playing Jane Average.
3. The cast has come together, and it’s looking really interesting. Elle Fanning is Princess Aurora, and the cast now includes Miranda Richardson, Juno Temple, Imelda Staunton, Sharlto Copley and Sam Riley.
4. Disney is pouring money into the production, which will film in England. It feels like everyone involved wants to take the time to make a really good film.
5. Angelina Jolie is simply a great Villainess. She’s been playing one for years and years in the tabloids.
Anyway, we won’t get to see Maleficent until March 2014 – a really long way away. But production on the film has officially started, so maybe we’ll have a teaser trailer by the end of the year? Maybe. Hopefully.

This is Maleficent Jolie

Angelina Bewitched By "Maleficent"

Sneak Peek actress Angelina Jolie as the 'evil fairy' 'Maleficent' from the currenly filming Disney fantasy movie "Maleficent", directed by "Avatar" production designer Robert Stromberg.

"Maleficent" screenplay is by Linda Woolverton ("Alice In Wonderland") who tailored the screenplay to accomodate Jolie.

In the original "Sleeping Beauty"story, 'Maleficent', (aka 'evil-doer') is the self-proclaimed "Mistress of All Evil".

She curses the infant 'Princess Aurora' to "prick her finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel and die" before the sun sets on her sixteenth birthday, after not being invited to the baby's christening.

Often viewed as the most powerful and sinister of Disney's occult villains, Maleficent is an interpretation of the 'wicked fairy godmother' from the original "Sleeping Beauty" fairy tale, appearing as a tall, slender, pale green skinned woman with a narrow face and prominent chin.

She also has yellow eyes and a horned headdress, symbolic of her dark magic, clad in a black and purple robe with bat wing-like edges.

Being an evil fairy, Maleficent can perform powerful spells, carrying a staff with a glowing green orb to transmit bolts of lightning. She is also capable of shape shifting at will into numerous forms, including a floating hypnotic light resembling a 'will-o'-the-wisp' and a massive, black and purple dragon.

Her minions are a legion of goblins and troll-like creatures, while frequently accompanied by her pet raven 'Diablo'.

Maleficent also appears as a major character/antagonist in the "Kingdom Hearts" video game series and a recurring character on the Disney TV series "House of Mouse".