Disney‘s live-action Cinderella spinoff feature has found the perfect fits to lead the project.
Akiva Schaffer is set to helm Stepsisters, offering a comedic take on the property’s villainous characters who torment Cinderella. Writers Dan Gregor and Doug Mand, who worked with Schaffer on Paramount’s movie reboot The Naked Gun and Disney’s Emmy-winning feature Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers, will pen the screenplay that is based on an original script from Michael Montemayor.
Ali Bell produces the film for Party Over Here, the production company founded by Schaffer and fellow Lonely Island members Andy Samberg and Jorma Taccone.
Disney’s first feature version of Cinderella was the 1950 animated film adapting the classic fairy tale. The story centers on the titular character, who is a servant to her malicious stepmother and stepsisters until getting the chance to attend a glamorous ball and meet the prince.
Lily James, Cate Blanchett and Richard Madden starred in Disney’s 2015 live-action version of the tale. Sophie McShera and Holliday Grainger played the shallow stepsisters in that movie, which surpassed $540 million at the global box office.
Disney continues to prioritize live-action remakes of its classic animated properties. This includes a live-action take on Tangled being back in active development after a previous pause in light of Rachel Zegler and Gal Gadot’s live-action Snow White underperforming at the box office. Since then, Disney had a massive hit with the live-action remake of Lilo & Stitch, and the live-action Moana is set for release this summer.
Also in the works from Disney is a live-action film version of Beauty and the Beast villain Gaston.
Schaffer previously helmed last summer’s Liam Neeson-led The Naked Gun and Disney+’s Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers that featured the voices of Samberg and John Mulaney. Jessica Virtue oversees Stepsisters for the studio, as does Cady Stark.
