Emma Stone to play a young Cruella de Vil in ’80s-set origin story “with a punk vibe”

It was in 2016 when we reported that Emma Stone was in talks to play Cruella De Vil in a live-action origin story of her 101 Dalmatians villain. Today, The Hollywood Reporter confirms Stone’s casting and describes the project, titled Cruella, as being set in the early 1980s “with a punk vibe.”

Mozart in the Jungle creator Alex Timbers was slated to direct, but his Broadway commitments reportedly got in the way. Now, Disney is in early talks with I, Tonya director Craig Gillespie. Gillespie is a Disney veteran, having previously helmed the studio’s The Finest Hours and Million Dollar Arm.

In the 1961 animated film, De Vil is a wealthy fur heiress who longs to turn cute dogs into a coat. An origin story will detail how she developed her…hatred of animals, we guess? Glenn Close played the character in Disney’s live-action adaptation of the original.