Emma Watson could become the latest star to play a fictional princess, according to a March 1 report by Complex. The “Harry Potter” actress is in talks to play Cinderella in a live-action Disney movie, with Cate Blanchett already signed on to play the princess’ evil stepmother.
It’s not surprising that “Cinderella” director Kenneth Branagh wants Emma Watson for the role -- he got to know the star while acting alongside her in “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets” and “My Week With Marilyn.” It’s also not shocking that Disney is trying to bring another fairytale princess to life after the success of Kristen Stewart’s butt-kicking version of the beauty with lips as red as blood and hair as black as night in “Snow White and the Huntsman.”
Fairytale movies have been very popular recently, but they aren’t always so successful. The other Snow White movie starring Lily Collins titled “Mirror Mirror” couldn’t mirror the success of Kristen Stewart’s film, and “Jack the Giant Slayer” seems destined to become a box office flop. “Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters” performed okay at the box office but was critically panned, while Amanda Seyfried’s “Red Riding Hood” and Vanessa Hudgens’ “Beastly” also failed to impress critics.
The fairytale film craze might eventually fade, but gals will probably always have a soft spot for princesses -- Emma Watson is joining a long line of popular actresses who have starred in live-action princess movies.
Long before Kristen Stewart and Lily Collins were playing dueling Snow Whites, Robin Wright’s Princess Buttercup was getting rescued by a dreamy Cary Elwes in “The Princess Bride.” And it’s no shock that Emma Watson is eager to play a royal since Anne Hathaway went from playing a princess in “The Princess Diaries” and “Ella Enchanted” to winning an Oscar. Oscar-nominated actress Amy Adams was also perfect as a Disney princess brought to life and transported to modern-day NYC in “Enchanted.”
Emma will be following in the footsteps of Drew Barrymore, who played Cinderella in “Ever After: A Cinderella Story.” There are tons of re-tellings of Cinderella out there, mostly in the form of made-for-TV movies starring teen queens like Selena Gomez and Hilary Duff. These tales are usually about modern girls who don't become princesses -- they just meet the guy of their dreams and he has to track them down in some crazy modern-day way like by using their Zune (this is actually the plot of Selena’s “Another Cinderella Story”). However, Brandy Norwood did get to become a princess in the 1997 version of “Cinderellla.”
Other movies like “The Princess Diaries” that feature modern-day princesses or girls on their way to becoming princesses include Julia Stiles’ “The Prince and Me” and Demi Lovato’s “Princess Protection” program, which also stars Selena Gomez. And Audrey Hepburn’s “Roman Holiday” is a great classic film about a royal who leaves her life of luxury behind to experience the real world.
So are you looking forward to seeing Emma Watson as Cinderella, and which princess movie do you enjoy most?
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