Maleficent is a Disney film based on the antagonist of The Sleeping Beauty story. The titular role was played by Angelina Jolie and was joined by Sharlto Copley, Elle Fanning, Sam Riley, Imelda Staunton, Juno Temple, and Lesley Manville in supporting roles.
The first film was directed by Robert Stromberg from a screenplay by Linda Woolverton, who wrote the 1991 animated film Beauty and the Beast. The film became the fourth-highest-grossing film at the time of its release and received mixed reviews. It also became Jolie’s highest-grossing film.
Then, the sequel, Maleficent: Mistress of Evil, dropped in 2019, and it set Maleficent and Aurora against their greatest challenge yet: Queen Ingrith of Ulstead (Michelle Pfeiffer), an antagonist out to destroy all fairies. With the two movies establishing a pretty neat fantasy universe around the Sleeping Beauty characters, it’s only natural to expect that Disney intends to keep the ball rolling with future installments of the franchise.
Will There Be Maleficent 3?
Disney will almost certainly approve a third installment based on the success of Maleficent: Mistress of Evil. But what adventures await Maleficent in future movies? Here’s what we know about the release date, cast, and plot of Maleficent 3.
News about the third Maleficent movie was already making rounds in 2019 when the second film was released. Sources for Giant Freaking Robot had revealed that Disney was already developing the third film. In 2021 as well, in an interview, Producer Jeff Kirschenbaum stated that the third Maleficent movie is coming but was still in the very early stages of development. Also, It has already done the first draft of the script. Despite how the second film did during its release, the movie franchise will be going forward.
Maleficent 3: Plot
The second film picked off five years after the first film ended. King Stefan, Aurora aka Sleeping Beauty’s father has died and she has now taken over as Queen of the Moors. She wants to marry Prince Philip but his mother, Queen Ingrith hates the Moors, their fairy culture, and especially Maleficent. Additionally, there is also a subplot of the rise of the endangered and powerful fairy race known as the Dark Fey.
Maleficent becomes the hero in the second film as Queen Ingrith takes over as villain. There is a happy ending as Aurora and Philip live happily ever after and Maleficent returns to the world of the Dark Fey. But for the third film, new conflicts need to be created to either bring back Maleficent as the villain again or another bad guy to command the screen as the previous two powerful characters did. It will focus on the life of the married royals who welcome a child.
Cast
Considering that the series is called Maleficent, it’s almost a given that for a third movie to get made, Angelina Jolie would have to return as the titular character. So, Angelina Jolie as Maleficent and Elle Fanning as Aurora will definitely reprise their roles along with Harris Dickinson as Prince Philip. Michelle Pfeiffer who played Queen Ingrith could make an appearance in the film as well depending on the story.
Lesley Manville as Flittle will definitely not be back and it is unclear Jenn Murray as Gerda will be back. Ed Skrein as Borra, however, will be making a comeback after surviving the last battle.
As for any new actors joining the franchise, stay tuned for more information as it becomes available.
Maleficent 3: Release date
There’s no official release date for Maleficent 3 yet. But you know the time between the first and second films was nearly five years. Considering the third film has been in the works since 2019 with no updates as yet, we can expect to see Maleficent 3 sometime in 2025.
