Reports have surfaced that the 2014 film very loosely based on the villainess from "Sleeping Beauty" is getting a second installment, and the "Maleficent" sequel is currently being written - and it's fairly likely that the original film's star, Oscar winner Angelina Jolie, could skip it.
Deadline recently reported the exclusive story that Disney had commissioned the writing of a "Maleficent" sequel, understandable since the 2014 movie was one of the biggest box office hits last year, particularly as audiences and critics alike fell in love with the performance given by Brad Pitt's wife, even if the film itself got mixed reviews.
According to Yahoo! News, Disney is moving forward with the "Maleficent" sequel, engaging Linda Woolverton (who wrote the 2014 movie) to write the screenplay, as they attempt to entice Jolie to come back for the sequel, which will be written for her to reprise the role.
As Coming Soon reports, seeing as the "Maleficent" sequel is so early in the development stages, it's still not guaranteed that Jolie will come back, and she has said in the past few months that, after the release of her current projects, she will retire from acting (at least for a while) to focus on her directing career.
The original film (itself a sort of remake from the 1959 animated movie) made more than $758 million worldwide at the box office for the studio, and the follow-up "Maleficent" sequel is expected to do at least as well - but the lack of superstar Jolie could greatly influence the film's possible box office performance, unless Disney hires a name as big as Jolie, if that's possible.
Besides having worked in "Maleficent," Woolverton's history with Disney movies includes a few modern classics such as "The Lion King" and "Beauty and the Beast," besides the 2010 Tim Burton adaptation of "Alice in Wonderland" and having penned that film's sequel, "Alice Through the Looking Glass," which will be released next year.
There's still no confirmation from Disney regarding a possible "Maleficent" sequel.
