Cruella

Cruella is a 2021 American crime comedy film based on the character Cruella de Vil from Dodie Smith‘s 1956 novel The Hundred and One Dalmatians and Walt Disney‘s 1961 animated film adaptation.^[12] The film is directed by Craig Gillespie with a screenplay by Dana Fox and Tony McNamara, from a story by Aline Brosh McKenna, Kelly Marcel, and Steve Zissis.^[13] It is the third live-action adaptation in the 101 Dalmatians franchise and serves as a prequel. Emma Stone stars as the title character, with Emma Thompson, Joel Fry, Paul Walter Hauser, Emily Beecham, Kirby Howell-Baptiste, and Mark Strong in supporting roles. Set in London during the punk rock movement of the 1970s, the film revolves around Estella Miller, an aspiring fashion designer, as she explores the path that will lead her to become a notorious up and coming fashion designer known as Cruella de Vil.

Walt Disney Pictures announced the film’s development in 2013, with Andrew Gunn as producer. Stone was cast in 2016 and also serves as an executive producer on the film alongside Glenn Close, who portrayed Cruella in the previous live-action adaptations, 101 Dalmatians (1996) and 102 Dalmatians (2000). Principal photography took place from August and November 2019 in England.

Cruella premiered in Los Angeles on May 18, 2021, the first major red carpet event since the COVID-19 pandemic began, and was released in the United States theatrically and simultaneously available on Disney+ with Premier Access on May 28. The film received praise from critics for Gillespie’s direction, the performances (particularly Stone, Thompson, and Hauser), costume design, and soundtrack, but criticism for its screenplay.