Angelina Jolie to Star in 'Maleficent 2'?

By Dondi Tiples, Christian Post Contributor Tuesday, June 16, 2015

With news emerging "Maleficent 2" has been officially placed under development, its lead star Angelina Jolie is rumored to be reprising the title role.

"Maleficent 2" is reportedly up on the drawing board at Walt Disney Studios, and rumors have emerged Angelina Jolie is expected to return to her role as the dark fairy.

While the Oscar winning actress has yet to sign on for the sequel to Disney's successful 2014 dark fantasy based on one of its most recognizable villainesses, The Wrap reported the film company is confident she will return.

"Maleficent" grossed over $750 million in the box office last year, making it a high priority production for Disney.

Jolie, who has been putting all her creative concentration on directing films in the last few years, is notorious for turning down sequels to her widely popular movies, including "Wanted" and "Salt," apart from her "Tomb Raider" and "Kung Fu Panda" series.

However, she has been noted as saying during a promotional tour of the movie that Maleficent was one of her top favorite characters as a child, Cinemablend writes. Jolie also hinted that while it may be difficult to top her performance as the nefarious dark witch, there might be an opportunity to play Maleficent again, prompting both Disney and fans to expect her to reprise the role she completely owned from the beginning.

Screenwriter Linda Woolverton, who wrote the screenplay for the first "Maleficent," as well as the scripts for other Disney films like "Beauty and the Beast," "The Lion King," and "Mulan," is currently in talks to pen the sequel, particularly with Jolie in mind for the lead role.

It is yet unclear whether the rest of the cast of the original film, Aurora (Elle Fanning), Diaval (Sam Riley), Prince Phillip (Brenton Thwaites), Thistlewit (Juno Temple), Knotgrass (Imelda Staunton), and Flittle (Leslie Manville) will return to reprise their roles for the sequel.