‘True Grit’ Discovery Hailee Steinfeld Attached To Revisionist ‘Sleeping Beauty’
The fascination with fairy tales continues. Thanks toAlice in Wonderlandand the impending end of big franchises likeHarry PotterandTwilightwe have loads of fairy tale films headed our way. There are several Snow White, Oz and Peter Pan films in development, as well as movies likeHansel & Gretel: Witch Huntersthat are nearing their production start dates.
Add one more to the pile, asHailee SteinfeldfromTrue Gritis now attached to a spec script that updatesSleeping Beauty.
Deadlinereports thatLindsay Devlin’sSleeping Beautyis “a revisionist take on the fairy tale that will give Steinfeld a lot more to do than nap while waiting for a charming prince’s peck to awaken her from a witch’s curse. The new version is told from her point of view as she enters the dream world and has to find her way out.”
In other words:veryAlice in Wonderland.
No wonder that Hailee Steinfeld would be in demand. Her performance inTrue Gritwas the film’s jewel, and the young actress has seemed remarkably self-possessed and charming as she did interviews to promote the film and her impressive Oscar nomination. (For Best Supporting Actress, which went to Melissa Leo.) She’s alreadyattachedtoForgotten, a film with shades ofTwilightandDonnie Darkoin which she’d play “London Lane, a 16-year old whose memory is erased at 4:33 every night. The following morning, all she can remember are events from her future. After meeting a new boy at school, London becomes frustrated that she can’t seem to find him in her memory of things to come.”
I’m hoping to see her cast in more interesting and adventurous films, but there’s something to be said for building a young, loyal fanbase. That’s where films likeForgottenandSleeping Beautymay come in.
And, yes, there is another Sleeping Beauty film in development, at Disney. That would beMaleficent, of which we’ve heard little in the way of news since Angelina Jolie wasrumored for the moviea year ago.
