Jolie will play the fairy-sorceress in Disney’s re-imagining of the “Sleeping Beauty” tale; Elle Fanning circling to play Aurora.

Disney’s Maleficent, a live-action origins story starring Angelina Jolie as one of Disney’s most iconic villians, is eyeing a June start date in London.

Robert Stromberg will direct Maleficent from a script by Linda Woolverton and is already in the U.K. prepping the film. Malificent is a passion project for Jolie and will be her next acting role.
One possibility for the role of Aurora is Elle Fanning, who is in talks to join the cast. Fanning’s star status rose last year with Somewhere and J.J. Abrams sci-fi movie Super 8.

Jolie, who recently made her feature directorial debut with Bosnian war drama In the Land of Blood and Honey, has long been toying with the idea of playing the famous fairy-sorceress in the Sleeping Beauty fairy tale.

In December she told THR her children want her to make the movie and even call her “mom-elicent.” She’s also eager to make a live-action family film after her experience voicing the Kung Fu Panda franchise.

Jolie told THR that she was drawn to screenwriter Woolverton’s revisionist take on the fairy tale and the complex relationship between Maleficent and Sleeping Beauty.

Stromberg was the production designer on Avatar, Alice in Wonderland and Disney’s upcoming Oz the Great and Powerful.

Source: Hollywood Reporter