When the COVID-19 pandemic started, red carpet premieres became a thing of the past until Cruella was released in 2021. Alas, with the virus still causing chaos across the globe, the live-action Disney prequel ended up debuting in theaters - and on the Disney+'s short-lived "Premier Access" service - simultaneously.
Despite the odds being stacked against it, Cruella earned a respectable $233.5 million worldwide and received largely positive reviews.
A largely self-contained story, the movie didn't exactly paint Cruella de Vil as the despicable villain we all know from animation (instead, she was a surprisingly likeable anti-hero with occasionally questionable morals). When news of a possible sequel broke, though, the prevailing theory was that it might finally explore her descent into evil.
It's been a while since we've heard anything about the project and Cruella herself, Emma Stone, recently shared what she knows about the movie (via Toonado.com).
"You tell me. Hopefully, hopefully sooner rather than later," she said at the recent Poor Things premiere. "There’s a work in progress kind of thing going on [with the script]. We’ll see. She’s a blast, she’s the best. We’ll see, it’s a work in progress."
It's hard to know what to make of this update. Stone remains busy and, given the uncertainty surrounding Disney sequels and the studio's recent financial woes (not to mention how divisive these remakes often are), we wouldn't be shocked to see Cruella remain a one-off.
In our 2021 review, we concluded by saying, "The biggest surprise of 2021, Cruella is a bold, striking, and visually stunning delight featuring a fierce, transformative performance from Emma Stone that sees her make Cruella de Vil entirely her own. A must-see."
You can watch Stone's comments in full in the X post below.
Emma Stone (La La Land) stars in Disney’s Cruella, a live-action feature film about the rebellious early days of one of cinema’s most notorious – and notoriously fashionable – villains, the legendary Cruella de Vil. Set during the 1970s punk rock revolution in London, the story follows a clever and creative young grifter named Estella, who is determined to become a successful designer.
After Estella befriends a pair of young thieves who appreciate her appetite for mischief, the three build a life for themselves on the London streets. Before long, Estella’s flair for fashion catches the eye of the Baroness von Hellman, a devastatingly chic and terrifyingly haute fashion legend, played by Emma Thompson (Sense and Sensibility). But their relationship sets in motion a course of events and revelations that will cause Estella to embrace her wicked side and become the raucous, fashionable and revenge-bent Cruella.