A sequel to Disney’s Cruella movie starring Emma Stone is in the works, it seems. According to The Hollywood Reporter, a sequel is in “early development” at Disney, with director Craig Gillespie and writer Tony McNamara set to return, along with Stone in the title role.
A spokesperson for Disney said the company is “very pleased” with how Cruella is doing at the box office and through Disney+ Premier Access. Not only is the movie succeeding commercially, but Disney said it’s happy with Cruella’s 97% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes and its A rating on CinemaScore. Cruella is “among the most popular of our live-action reimaginings,” Disney said.
“We look forward to a long run as audiences continue to enjoy this fantastic film,” the spokesperson said.
Cruella has made more than $87 million at the box office worldwide. Disney has not shared any hard data about how Cruella is performing on Disney+ Premiere Access, however, but it’s apparently strong enough, combined with the box office numbers, to get a sequel off the ground.
A prequel, Cruella told the story of how Estella became Cruella, so it’s natural that a sequel would pick up from there as her villainous exploits take shape. Whether or not she’ll try to capture and kill 101 Dalmatians in the sequel remains to be seen.
Cruella is just the latest of Disney’s live-action reboots of animated classics. The most successful of these have been Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, and The Lion King, all of which grossed more than $1 billion at the box office. More are coming, including new live-action versions of The Little Mermaid, Peter Pan & Wendy, and Pinocchio, among others.