Why the devilish origins of Cruella are too dark for Disney
Dodie Smith’s original puppy-napper is irredeemably wicked – so why does this blockbuster backstory turn her into a pitiable orphan?
Sympathy for the devil: Emma Stone in Cruella
Credit: Disney
What turned grifting young fashion designer Cruella de Vil into a demented doggie-dispatcher? That is the question director Craig Gillespie’s new film Cruella sets out to answer. In recent years we’ve had cinematic origin stories for Hannibal Lecter, The Joker, and Maleficent (the witch in Sleeping Beauty). Now Hollywood is finally ready to tackle the wickedest fictional villain of all – if you measure wickedness according to the adorability of the villain’s proposed victims, that is.
Andie MacDowell and Bruce Willis in Hudson Hawk
Credit: Alamy
“Smug Hudson Hawk looks like a turkey,” said the Chicago Tribune on May 24, 1991 – the day that Hudson Hawk opened in the US. Bruce Willis’s comedy caper had been in the firing line since long before it hit cinemas. The accusation of turkey-faced smuggery was fuelled by months’ worth of damning set reports: constant rewrites as the film was shot; the leading lady being mysterious recast; Bruce Willis and producer Joel Silver – pumped up from the Die Hard 2 box office – ganging up on the director Michael Lehmann; and a budget which ballooned to a hefty $65 million – or up to $75 million according to some reports.
Far from a flop: Peter Rabbit 2 grossed £3.81 million on opening weekend
Credit: Sony Pictures
Animal adventure hops to chart victory
UK cinema operators have cause to be both mightily relieved as well as cautiously optimistic after audiences returned at the weekend in significant numbers – led by the charge of Peter Rabbit 2. The family film sequel grossed £3.81 million from 496 cinemas for the weekend period, and £4.61m including takings from Monday-to-Thursday last week.
Cinemas were permitted to reopen in England, Scotland and Wales last Monday (May 17), and by the weekend 598 had chosen to do so.
The reopening programme stands in marked contrast to the spiral of pessimism that challenged the cinema sector after the first lockdown lifted last July – when a dire lack of new film releases resulted in a tentative reopening programme, which in turn confirmed distributors’ disinclination to release strong titles. Until Tenet landed on August Bank Holiday weekend, cinema
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