Michelle Pfeiffer is in talks to play the Queen in “Maleficent 2,” an individual with knowledge of the project tells The Wrap.
“Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales” director Joachim Ronning is set to direct. Production on the sequel is set to start in 2018.
Angelina Jolie will reprise the title role in the live-action fairy tale. She is noted for her reluctance to doing live-action sequels, instead preferring to focus on original movies as both an actress and a filmmaker. Sony and Universal once planned sequels to “Salt” and “Wanted,” respectively, but Jolie hasn’t expressed desire to return for either would-be franchise since the poor reception of her 2003 “Tomb Raider” sequel, “The Cradle of Life.”
Joe Roth is producing the film. Jez Butterworth and Linda Woolverton wrote the sequel script, with Micah Fitzerman-Blue and Noah Harpster writing its most recent revisions.
“Maleficent” grossed $760 million worldwide in 2014, making the sequel a high priority for Disney’s development team.
Pfeiffer was last seen in Kenneth Branagh’s “Murder on the Orient Express” and will be in Marvel Studios “Ant-Man and The Wasp,” which will be in theaters July 6.
Pfeiffer is repped by CAA and Management 360.
Variety first reported the news.