When Angelina Jolie photobombed Elle Fanning (courtesy ellefanning)
Highlights
- Maleficent 2 went on floors, Disney announced on Tuesday
- Angelina Jolie, Elle Fanning were spotted on sets
- Elle Fanning shared photos from the shoot
Production has begun on the sequel to smash hit
Maleficent, Disney announced Tuesday, with Elle Fanning and Angelina Jolie reprising their roles as Sleeping Beauty and her conflicted surrogate mother. The movie is being filmed at Pinewood Studios, near London and in locations around Britain, the world's largest movie studio said in statement.
"It's bring your mom to work day on the
Maleficent 2 set," 20-year-old Fanning (
Trumbo, The Beguiled) joked in an Instagram post that had been shared a quarter of a million times within an hour.
Alongside the message, she posted a picture of her in front of a laughing Jolie, who was in the famous "Maleficent" horns, as well as a pair of sunglasses and a toweling bathrobe.
Maleficent, a modern retelling of the life of Sleeping Beauty's arch-nemesis, cast an instant spell on audiences in 2014, debuting at the top of the North American box office and going on to gross more than $750 million worldwide.
Joining Fanning and Jolie for the latest adventure are Oscar nominees Michelle Pfeiffer (
Dangerous Liaisons, Ant-Man And The Wasp) and Chiwetel Ejiofor (
12 Years A Slave, Doctor Strange).
Disney also confirmed that acclaimed British stage and screen actor Robert Lindsay (
Wimbledon) would be among the newcomers, while Sam Riley, Imelda Staunton, Juno Temple and Lesley Manville return from the original movie.
In the sequel, directed by Joachim Ronning ("Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales"), Disney's most notorious villain continues to explore her complex relationship with Princess Aurora, the soon to be queen, as they form alliances against new adversaries.
Fan reaction on social media was mostly positive, with much of the excitement being generated over the addition of screen legend Pfeiffer, 60, to the cast.
Disney began scouring its back catalogue in the 1990s for animated classics that it could turn into live-action remakes - a strategy that has so far netted several billion dollars.
Tim Burton's
Dumbo, Guy Ritchie's
Aladdin and Jon Favreau's
The Lion King are all due for release next year, while
The Little Mermaid will see Lin-Manuel Miranda of
Hamilton fame collaborating with legendary Disney composer Alan Menken.
Two remakes of
Peter Pan are in the works along with new versions of
Fantasia, Pinocchio, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and
The Sword In The Stone.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)