The march of new Disney movies continues apace, and the studio has Lasse Hallstrom preparing to make a new, live-action version of classic fantasy tale The Nutcracker. Helen Mirren is in the process of securing a role as Mother Ginger.
Originally written by E.T.A. Hoffman as a story called The Nutcracker And The Mouse King and famously turned into a hugely successful ballet by Tchaikovsky, the basic plot follows a young girl named Clara who receives a nutcracker doll from her godfather one Christmas Eve. Seized with the need to see her present as the clock strikes midnight on Christmas Day, she's transported into a fantastical world rent asunder by a conflict between gingerbread soldiers and an army of mice.
Ashleigh Powell has written the latest adaptation, known as The Nutcracker And The Four Realms and Mackenzie Foy is set as Clara, with Morgan Freeman, Keira Knightley and ballerina Misty Copeland also in the cast. Mother Ginger in the ballet is a living gingerbread house, so we'll have to see how that will be brought to life. Well, it's Helen Mirren, and she can pretty much do anything.
The actress has several films headed our way, including Collateral Beauty (out December 30) and a small role in Fast 8, which will screech in on April 14 next year.