Despite how the second film did during its release, the movie franchise will be going forward.
Maleficent is the Disney film based on the antagonist of The Sleeping Beauty story. The titular role was played by Angelina Jolie who was joined by Sharlto Copley, Elle Fanning, Sam Riley, Imelda Staunton, Juno Temple, and Lesley Manville in supporting roles.
The first film was directed by Robert Stromberg from a screenplay by Linda Woolverton, who wrote the 1991 animated film Beauty and the Beast. The film became the fourth-highest-grossing film at the time of its release and received mixed reviews. It also became Jolie's highest-grossing film.
The sequel of the film, Maleficent: Mistress of Evil, was released in 2019. This film did not do as well as the first film in terms of commercial success as well as the reception from the audience. But will there be another Maleficent film? Find out here:
News about the third Maleficent movie was already making rounds in 2019 when the second film was released. Sources for Giant Freaking Robot had revealed that Disney was already developing the third film. In 2021 as well, in an interview, Producer Jeff Kirschenbaum stated that the third Maleficent movie is coming but was still in the very early stages of development. The first draft of the script was already done by then. Despite how the second film did during its release, the movie franchise will be going forward.
The second film was picked off five years after the first film ended. (Warning, spoilers ahead!) King Stefan, Aurora aka Sleeping Beauty's father has died and she has now taken over as Queen of the Moors. She wants to marry Prince Philip but his mother, Queen Ingrith hates the Moors, their fairy culture, and especially Maleficent. Additionally, there is also a subplot of the rise of the endangered and powerful fairy race known as the Dark Fey.
Maleficent becomes the hero in the second film as Queen Ingrith takes over as the villain. There is a happy ending as Aurora and Philip live happily ever after and Maleficent returns to the world of the Dark Fey. But for the third film, new conflicts need to be created to either bring back Maleficent as the villain again or another bad guy to command the screen as the previous two powerful characters did. It will focus on the life of the married royals who welcome a child.
Angelina Jolie as Maleficent and Elle Fanning as Aurora will definitely reprise their roles along with Harris Dickinson as Prince Philip. Michelle Pfeiffer who played Queen Ingrith could make an appearance in the film as well depending on the story.
Lesley Manville as Flittle will definitely not be back and it is unclear Jenn Murray as Gerda will be back. Ed Skrein as Borra, however, will be making a comeback after surviving the last battle.
The time between the first and second films was nearly five years. Considering the third film has been in the works since 2019 with no updates as yet, we can expect to see Maleficent 3 sometime in 2024.
This article was recently reviewed and is up to date as of June 5th, 2023.
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