Cruella 2 release date – here’s everything you need to know about Emma Stone’s return as the fashion-obsessed dog loving Disney villain.
What is the Cruella 2 release date? Cinderella. Beauty and the Beast. The Lion King. Disney has spent the last decade or so reimagining some of our childhood favourite Disney princesses for a new generation, with live-action movie adaptations. When we first heard that the studio were making a Cruella movie, though, we thought it’d gone too far.
Cruella is one of the more reprehensible Disney movie villains who literally threatens to hurt puppies. We shouldn’t have doubted the House of Mouse, though, because they somehow managed to make Cruella a genuinely exciting and dramatic family movie without completely sanitising the fashionable fiend.
It all comes down to a stunning lead performance from the incredibly talented Emma Stone. Stone’s sympathetic and sinister portrayal of Cruella bagged the movie fans the world over, and it raked in a tonne of cash. Unsurprisingly then, Disney greenlit a Cruella 2 soon after the first film’s release. Of course, though, we’ve got a few questions about Cruella’s second adventure, like when is the Cruella 2 release date? What will it be about? And which members of the cast are returning? Well, let’s take a look, darling.
When will Cruella 2 be released?
“Cruella” hit theaters and Disney+ in May 2021. And it didn’t take very long for the top Disney brass to give the sequel the greenlight, with The Hollywood Reporter announcing “Cruella 2” in June 2021. However, all this time later, we still don’t have a firm release date, although we have heard some rumblings that we should expect the film soon.
In March 2022, the film’s Oscar-nominated makeup artists Nadia Stacey and Julia Vernon were talking to Variety (via ComicBook.com), when Stacey revealed, “They’re working on the script at the moment.” Paul Walter Hauser — who played Horace in the film and is also known for his work on “I, Tonya,” “Cobra Kai,” and “Black Bird” — sat down with Forbes in July 2022 and revealed, “I’m told we’re doing it next year.”
So, if Hauser is correct, we’ll be getting news soon that “Cruella” has started filming. Be sure to check back here for regular updates on the film’s progress.
Cruella 2 cast
Most crucial to a new Cruella film is, would you believe, Cruella herself. After some very public negotiations in the wake of Scarlett Johansson’s lawsuit with Disney, Emma Stone has agreed to star in Cruella 2.
The other Cruella alumni joining her in the sequel are the brains behind the first film – director Craig Gillespie (who is also responsible for I, Tonya and Lars and the Real Girl) and writer Tony McNamara (creator of The Great and co-writer of The Favourite).
Nobody else has been confirmed to return just yet, but it is expected that Paul Walter Hauser’s Horace and Joel Fry’s Jasper will make a return. Only time will tell if Emma Thompson’s Baroness will return. Perhaps her incarceration brought an end to her arc, but we could be surprised yet.
What is the plot of Cruella 2?
The first “Cruella” serves as a prequel to the “101 Dalmatians” story that we all know and love. In fact, the first film ends (spoiler alert) with Cruella delivering Dalmatians Pongo and Perdita to Roger (Kayvan Novak) and Anita (Kirby Howell-Baptiste), so it seems the next installment might revisit Cruella’s infamous crimes.
However, when it all eventually goes down, we might possibly be jumping forward a few years. In March 2022, when Variety spoke to the film’s makeup artists (via ComicBook.com), Nadia Stacey and Julia Vernon, Stacey said, “My only hope is, I know nothing, but my hope is we’re moving into the ’80s … get your rollers out, lots of perms. We’d have such a new era to explore.”
Exploring a new decade of fashion with Cruella would be quite exciting. But whatever happens or whenever it happens, we’re all eagerly awaiting the return of the evil fashion icon.
Who is directing and writing Cruella 2?
When “Cruella 2” is finally released, it will be coming from the same creative team behind the success of the first film (via The Hollywood Reporter). So yes, that means Craig Gillespie is returning to direct after helming the original picture. In addition to “Cruella,” Gillespie has had quite the career, directing a wide variety of films like the indie dramedy “Lars and the Real Girl,” the horror movie remake “Fright Night,” and the real-life thriller “The Finest Hours.” Perhaps most notably, Gillespie was the filmmaker behind the equally tragic and comedic biopic “I, Tonya,” which earned Allison Janney her Oscar for best supporting actress.
As for screenwriting duties, those will go to Tony McNamara, who penned the script for the 2021 movie. McNamara seems to specialize in tales of ambitious, complicated women rising to positions of power, as he also wrote the screenplay for Yorgos Lanthimos’ “The Favourite” and created the Hulu series “The Great.”
Where to watch the first Cruella
Cruella de Vil is one of Disney’s most infamous and terrifying villains. Sure, she debuted in the book by Dodie Smith, but it was the 1961 animated film that cemented her as the personification of over-the-top evil. And thanks to both Glenn Close and Emma Stone’s portrayals, the character has continued and cackled on for new generations — which is a long way of saying that the fashionista lives in style at the House of Mouse. So if you want to watch 2021’s “Cruella” with Stone in the lead role, the easiest way to do that is to view the film on Disney+.
