It’s about time Disney gave pop culture’s most famous dog-killing monster a movie of her own. Cruella stars Emma Stone as Cruella de Vil, the girl-boss antagonist of 101 Dalmatians. The film, directed by I, Tonya‘s Craig Gillespie and written by the creators of The Great and Crazy Ex-Girlfriend and the writers of Fifty Shades of Grey and The Wedding Date, takes place before Cruella meets Pongo, because Disney made a lot of money with fellow prequel Maleficent, so why not do it again with another Oscar winner? “I am woman, hear me roar,” she says in the trailer above, which shockingly does not include a haunting piano cover of “Cruella De Vil.” Maybe in the actual movie.
Here’s the official plot synopsis:
Academy Award winner Emma Stone stars in Disney’s Cruella, an all-new live-action feature film about the rebellious early days of one of cinemas most notorious – and notoriously fashionable – villains, the legendary Cruella de Vil. “Cruella,” which is set in 1970s London amidst the punk rock revolution, follows a young grifter named Estella, a clever and creative girl determined to make a name for herself with her designs. She befriends a pair of young thieves who appreciate her appetite for mischief, and together they are able to build a life for themselves on the London streets. One day, Estella’s flair for fashion catches the eye of the Baroness von Hellman, a fashion legend who is devastatingly chic and terrifyingly haute, played by two-time Oscar winner Emma Thompson. But their relationship sets in motion a course of events and revelations that will cause Estella to embrace her wicked side and become the raucous, fashionable and revenge-bent Cruella.
Cruella opens on May 21.
