Disney is releasing a live-action Cinderella next March, directed by Kenneth Branagh and starring Downton Abbey‘s Lily James as the besmirched heroine and Game of Thrones‘ Richard Madden as Prince Charming. Disney has been toying with its fairy tales a lot recently, what with Maleficent and Frozen, not to mention the upcoming Into the Woods, but the trailer makes it look as if Cinderella is going for a fairly straightforward telling of the fairy tale, high on production and costume design, and with a simple explanation of the supernatural: “Where there is kindness, there is goodness. Where there is goodness, there is magic.”
We get evil fashionista Cate Blanchett channeling Anna Wintour as the wicked stepmother, and the world’s most stylish bag-lady, Helena Bonham-Carter as the Fairy Godmother, as well as the glass slipper and the pumpkin carriage. “They’re all looking at you,” says Cinderella to Prince Charming at the ball. “Believe me,” he replies, “they’re all looking at you,” in an an exchange that the scriptwriters stole from The American President. Branagh’s film opens in March, giving the Internet plenty of time to start cueing up Lady Rose/Robb Stark mashup videos.
