When Hollywood finds a bandwagon that it likes, it just jumps on it like a hungry dog leaps on a bowlful of Pedigree Chum. So it should come as no surprise that there’s yet another revisionist fairytale in the works, this time revolving around Sleeping Beauty. The appeal of this one? It has True Grit’s Hailee Steinfeld attached to star.
Steinfeld hit it big in her first major role, scoring an Oscar nomination for a role that saw her easily share the screen with Matt Damon and Jeff Bridges for the Coen brothers. Since then, she’s been offered all sorts of roles and is attached to at least one other part, the lead in young adult novel adaptation Forgotten.
The new take on Sleeping Beauty, written by Lindsay Devlin will put the focus squarely on the title character. While she’ll still end up cursed by a witch as in the original, the plot will follow her into a dream world where she’ll have to find her way out. Think Sucker Punch, but hopefully a little less frenetic.
While Steinfeld’s attachment will certainly help its chances, this Beauty will have to take its place among the already crowded development courtyard, where the likes of Maleficent (a Tim Burton-adopted pic that tells the Sleeping story from the witch’s POV), the Peter Pan origin story, the 372 Snow White films and Oz, The Great and Powerful.