Disney’s Cruella, which will star Emma Stone as the classic puppy-napping, fur coat loving 101 Dalmatians antagonist, has found its director in Mozart and the Jungle writer and director Alex Timbers.
Timbers is reportedly in talks to helm the upcoming origin film, beating a handful of theater helmers including Fun House‘s Sam Gold. Timbers is a two-time Tony nominee, whose Broadway work includes Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson and an adaptation of Rocky. He’s also working on an untitled William Shakespeare musical for Disney.
Cruella marks yet another live-action adaptation of a classic Disney tale, but is only the second to be focused solely on the origin of a classic villain – the first being 2014’s highly successful Maleficent (which is getting a sequel). Edge of Tomorrow and Spectre scribe Jez Butterworth wrote the most recent draft of the script. The film will be produced by Freaky Friday and Race to Witch Mountain alum Andrew Gunn, and overseen by Kristin Burr and Jessica Virtue.
