A few weeks ago, the Cruella trailer started trending for a very odd reason. The origin story of famed 101 Dalmatians villain Cruella De Vil, many took note of how dark it seemed for a Disney movie, and others even compared it to Joker, with many noting similarities based on the trailer. Total Film recently sat down with star Emma Stone for their cover story and asked her what she thought of the comparison.
“It’s very different from Joker in many ways,” Stone told Total Film (via by GamesRadar) although she quickly noted tremendous admiration for Joaquin Phoenix's performance, adding, "I would never even remotely compare myself to Joaquin Phoenix… I wish I was more like him.”
Her director, Craig Gillespie, also noted the differences between the films, stating "but it’s definitely its own thing. Just to sort of reframe Cruella, I thought it was important to show this darker side of her. But there’s going to be a lot of fun, a lot of humor in it. There’s a lot of absolutely delightful banter and rhythm to the style of it, which is different from Joker.”
Cruella is current set for a hybrid theatrical/Disney Premium On-Demand release via Disney+ on May 28th. As a huge fan of Gillespie's I Tonya (a movie this look a lot more like than Joker), I can't wait to see how they shake up the Disney formula. However, I also wonder just how sympathetic they can make a woman who wants to make a coat out of adorable Dalmatian puppies.