E! IllustrationIf she doesn't scare you, no evil thing will!
E! News confirms that Emma Stone is in early negotiations to play Cruella de Vil in the film Cruella, Walt Disney Pictures' live-action re-imagining of the iconic villain from 101 Dalmatians. The project, which was first reported by The Hollywood Reporter Wednesday, would be in the vein of 2014's Maleficent, starring Angelina Jolie. Kelly Marcel (Fifty Shades of Grey, Saving Mr. Banks) is writing the character's origin story after Aline Brosh McKenna worked on an earlier version of the script.
Andrew Gunn is producing the project, and Kristin Burr and Jessica Virtue are overseeing Cruella for the studio. The adaptation does not have a director attached at this point. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the movie is being treated as "a priority for the studio, which is hoping to shoot the film later this year."
The Amazing Spider-Man actress wouldn't be the first person to portray the character on the big screen, of course. Glenn Close played Cruella de Vil in the 1996 live-action film 101 Dalmatians that repositioned her as the head of a fashion house. She reprised her role in 2002 for a sequel, 102 Dalmatians. Victoria Smurfit, meanwhile, also plays Cruella de Vil in ABC's fantasy series Once Upon a Time.
Stone hasn't officially signed on to star in Cruella yet, but imagine the possibilities! In fact, the idea got us here at E! News thinking: What would the 27-year-old actress look like playing the House of Mouse's most devilish diva? With no official wardrobe team in place just yet, we were left to our own devices and created a handful of photo manipulations using old stills of Close in character and shots of Stone killing it on the red carpet and onscreen. And voila! Cruella de Vil was (re)born. And if by chance Stone's negotiations stall, we'll always have these manipulated photos.
Perhaps the studio can also convince Stone to sing "Cruella de Vil." The song was first performed by Bill Lee as the singing voice of Roger Radcliffe, a character from the 1961 animated classic. It has since been re-recorded by Selena Gomez, Dr. John, Lalaine, Hayden Panettiere and others for various Disney albums.
In addition to Cruella, Walt Disney Studios is currently developing live-action versions of Dumbo, Mulan, Pete's Dragon, Pinocchio, The Sword in the Stone and Winnie the Pooh. A prequel to Aladdin, called Genies, is also in the works, as are Tink, based on Tinker Bell, and A Night on Bald Mountain, inspired by the Fantasia sequence of the same name. The Jungle Book and Alice Through the Looking Glass will be released later this year, and a Maleficent sequel is also being written. Beauty and the Beast, starring Emma Watson as book-loving Belle, is due out in 2017.