Most of us are familiar with Walt Disney’s animated 1950 Cinderella movie — a magical film with singing mice Jaq and Gus, a beautiful glass slipper, and a dance with the prince at the palace before the stroke of midnight. Since then, the tale of Cinderella has been retold many times. On Friday, another musical remake is set to grace our screens starring singer Camila Cabello as rags-to-riches Cinderella herself. Here’s what we know so far:
1. Kay Cannon, writer of Pitch Perfect, is the director of Cinderella.
Pitch Perfect is iconic. We can’t wait to see Kay’s delivery of her reimagined version of this Disney fairytale.
2. The plot of the movie is relatively the same…with its own unique twists.
From the trailer, we can see that the musical mostly sticks to the familiar story: Cinderella is at the mercy of her evil stepmother (Idina Menzel) and two stepsisters Anastasia (Maddie Baillio) and Drizella (Charlotte Spencer). Cinderella’s stepfamily constantly mocks her and makes her do an excessive amount of household chores. However, when Cinderella is presented with the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to attend a ball at the palace with some magic and help of her own Fairy Godparent (Billy Porter), her life changes. One thing that differentiates this version of Cinderella from previous ones is that Cinderella also owns a dress-making store to which she is made fun of by her fellow townsfolk.
2. Cinderella is Camila’s debut acting role.
Camila is known for being a part of American girl group Fifth Harmony. However, she left the group in 2016 to venture into a solo career. Since then, she’s continued to create her own songs. Cinderella is her first acting gig.
3. The cast seems extremely promising.
Alongside Camila and Idina, you have Pierce Bronsan as the King and Minnie Driver as the Queen. Nicholas Galitzine, who plays Prince Robert, recently acted in the Netflix series Chambers. Billy Porter is the Fairy Godparent we didn’t know we needed. It’s evident in the trailer all the cast members will sing and dance their hearts out in many musical numbers.
4. There are extremely relevant and empowering themes.
The trailer shows Prince Robert telling Cinderella that he picked her to be his princess to which she replies, “What about my work? I don’t want a life stuck waving from a royal box!” This reveals a more feminist and empowering take on the traditional story. I believe this clip alone shows viewers that they should always chase after their dreams and follow their hearts.
