In 2013, Disney announced the film's development withAndrew Gunn as a producer. Stone was cast in 2016 and also serves as an executive producer on the film alongsideGlenn Close, who portrayed Cruella in the previous live-action adaptations,101 Dalmatians (1996) and102 Dalmatians (2000). Principal photography took place in England between August and November 2019 with a $100 million budget.
In 1964 England, Estella Miller is a creative child with a talent for fashion, but is ostracized for herblack and white hair. She develops a nefarious streak, so her mother, Catherine, nicknames her "Cruella" and encourages her to be nicer. After Estella is expelled from school, Catherine decides to move them to London, stopping at a party at Hellman Hall, a mansion on theSuffolk coast to ask the host for money. Sneaking inside, Estella loses her mother's necklace while being chased by the host'sDalmatian dogs, which push Catherine off a cliffside balcony to her death. Orphaned, Estella runs away to London and befriendsstreet urchins Jasper and Horace.
The three become great friends; Estella practices thievery andgrifts with Jasper and Horace, honing her fashion skills by designing their disguises, alongside their dogs, Buddy and Wink. For her birthday in 1977, Jasper gets her a job at theLiberty department store, but Estella is made a janitor and denied the chance to use her talents. She drunkenly redecorates thewindow display and impresses Baroness von Hellman, a renowned but authoritarianhaute couture designer who offers her a coveted job at her fashion house. Estella gains the Baroness' confidence, but notices her wearing Catherine's necklace, which she claims is a family heirloom once stolen by an employee. Estella asks Jasper and Horace to help retrieve it during the Baroness’ Black and White Ball, suspecting that the Baroness is lying.
To conceal her identity, Estella creates thealter ego "Cruella", letting her natural hair show rather than wearing her usual wig, and wearing one of the Baroness' old designs from a vintage clothing store owned by the flamboyant Artie. At the ball, Cruella steals the spotlight as Jasper and Horace break into the Baroness' vault, but they realize that the Baroness is already wearing the necklace. Jasper improvises and releases rats into the party, allowing the disguised Estella to swipe the necklace. The Baroness summons her Dalmatians with adog whistle, leading Estella to realize that the Baroness was the one responsible for her mother Catherine's death. In the ensuing chaos, a Dalmatian swallows the necklace. Seeking revenge, Estella orders Jasper and Horace to kidnap the Dalmatians, and recovers the necklace. She then upstages the Baroness at various events in extravagant fashions, gaining notoriety viasociety columnist Anita Darling, Estella's childhood friend who has agreed to continue writing articles about her. The furious Baroness fires her lawyer, Roger Dearly, while Estella's increasingly haughty behavior discomforts Jasper.
Estella designs and sews an elaborately beaded dress, secretly disguising moth cocoons as beads, as the signature piece for the Baroness' spring collection. The night of the spring show, the Baroness opens the vault to find that the collection has been destroyed by the moths, and realizes Estella and Cruella are the same person. Having wrecked the Baroness' show, Cruella stages her own rock music fashion show outside inRegent's Park, wearing a faux Dalmatian-fur coat to trick the Baroness into thinking she had killed her dogs. Returning home, Estella is confronted by the Baroness and her men, who have captured Jasper and Horace. Setting fire to the building, the Baroness leaves a bound Estella to die, and has Jasper and Horace sent to prison for her murder. Estella is saved by John, the Baroness' valet, who reveals that the necklace unlocks a box containing Estella's birth records; the Baroness is her biological mother. She told the Baron von Hellman the baby died, and secretly ordered John to murder the infant Estella so the Baroness could focus on her career and keep her husband's inheritance; the heartbroken Baron died soon after that. Instead, John gave the baby to Catherine, one of the Baroness' maids, who raised Estella in secret.
Estella breaks Jasper and Horace out of prison and reveals the truth, recruiting them, Artie, and John for her final scheme to expose the Baroness. The quintet sneaks into the Baroness' charity gala, having arranged for all the guests to dress in black and white, in honor of Cruella. On the balcony, Estella confronts her mother, who feigns an embrace before pushing her over the cliff, unwittingly witnessed by her guests. Estella secretly survives with a hidden parachute and, now legally dead, adopts her Cruella persona for good. The Baroness is arrested by theMetropolitan Police, swearing revenge on Estella. Before "dying", Estella willed her inheritance to Cruella, including the manor which she renames from Hellman Hall to "Hell Hall", moving in with her accomplices.
Cruella sends Dalmatian puppies to both Anita and Roger—the latter now works as a musician—respectively namedPerdita and Pongo. Roger is smitten with Pongo, and begins to write asong about Cruella on his piano.
Tipper Seifert-Cleveland as 12-year-old Estella[16]
Emma Thompson as Baroness von Hellman, the narcissistic, authoritarian, and egotistical head of a prestigious London fashion house and a renownedhaute couture designer, who is Estella's new boss and eventual rival. She is the biological mother of Estella.
Joel Fry as Jasper, a thief who grew up with Estella after her adoptive mother's death. To play Jasper, Fry did not look back at the character's depiction in theoriginal animated film or the1996 live-action remake, only copying his physical mannerisms.[17]
Ziggy Gardner as young Jasper
Paul Walter Hauser as Horace, a thief who grew up with Estella after her adoptive mother's death and Jasper's brother. Hauser drew inspiration for the role from the performance ofBob Hoskins asMr. Smee inHook.[17]
Joseph MacDonald as young Horace
Emily Beecham as Catherine Miller, Estella's adoptive mother, an impoverished laundrywoman and former maid at Hellman Hall.
Kirby Howell-Baptiste as Anita Darling, Estella's friend when Estella was a kid, who works as a gossip columnist.[18][19] Anita is later gifted a female Dalmatian puppy namedPerdita by Cruella.
Florisa Kamara as young Anita
Mark Strong as John, the Baroness's valet and loyal confidante who aids her in her schemes.
John McCrea portrays Artie, a member of Cruella's entourage and owner of a vintage fashion shop. He was the first original character in a live-action Disney film to be openly gay and the character is inspired byDavid Bowie'sZiggy Stardust andMarc Bolan.[20][21] Additionally,Kayvan Novak portrays Roger Dearly, a lawyer working for the Baroness, who becomes a songwriter after he is fired, and is subsequently gifted a male Dalmatian puppy namedPongo by Cruella;Jamie Demetriou portrays Gerald, a clerk atLiberty who is Estella's initial boss; Andrew Leung portrays Jeffrey, the Baroness's assistant;Leo Bill portrays the headmaster at Estella's school;Paul Bazely portrays the police commissioner Weston; Ed Birch portrays the Baroness's head of security;Paul Chowdhry portrays aKebab Shop Owner, while Abraham Popoola portrays his co-worker George; and Tom Turner appears as the Baron von Hellman, the Baroness's late husband and Cruella's biological father.
A live-actionCruella de Vil film, based upon the character in Disney's101 Dalmatians franchise, was announced in 2013.[22]Andrew Gunn was hired to produce the film, withGlenn Close (who previously played the character in the 1996 live-action adaptation101 Dalmatians and its sequel102 Dalmatians) serving as executive producer[3][22] andKelly Marcel revising the script originally written byAline Brosh McKenna. In January 2016,Emma Stone was cast in the titular role of Cruella de Vil.[14] Costume designerJenny Beavan later stated that her role on the film was to help Stone appear as a younger 1970s portrayal of Close's 1990s role in101 Dalmatians, possibly confirming the shared continuity between the films, though the characters of Roger and Anita appear as the same age as Cruella and portrayed as different races with different occupations in this film.[12] However, Stone was not allowed to portray Cruella smoking as she had previously been since Disney had banned characters being shown smoking in its films since 2007.[23]
In August 2016,Jez Butterworth was hired to rewrite the previous draft of the screenplay.[24] In November 2016, it was reported that Disney had hiredAlex Timbers to direct the live-action adaptation, withMarc Platt joining the film as a producer.[2] However, in December 2018, it was revealed that Timbers had left the film due to scheduling conflicts andCraig Gillespie would instead direct the film.[25] In May 2019,Emma Thompson joined the cast as the Baroness, described as "an antagonist to Cruella who's thought to be pivotal in her transformation to the villain we know today".Nicole Kidman was considered to be the top choice, andCharlize Theron,Julianne Moore andDemi Moore were also in consideration for the role,[26] whileDev Patel was considered for the role of Roger Dearly. The same month,Tony McNamara andDana Fox were hired to write the recent version of the screenplay.[27]Joel Fry andPaul Walter Hauser were added in the following months as Jasper and Horace.[28][29]
A separate soundtrack album for the film was released on the same day. Both albums feature "Call Me Cruella", an original song performed byFlorence and the Machine, which appears in the end credits of the film.[37]
Cruella was originally scheduled to be theatrically released on December 23, 2020,[38][39] but it was delayed to May 28, 2021.[40] The film received aPG-13 rating from theMotion Picture Association, "for some violence and thematic elements", making it the second live-action remake/spin-off of a Disney animated film to receive the rating, followingMulan.[41] On March 23, 2021, it was announced that the film would be released simultaneously on Disney+ withPremier Accessin response to theCOVID-19 pandemic.[42] The film premiered at theEl Capitan Theatre in Los Angeles on May 18, 2021, the first major red carpet premiere since the pandemic began.[43]
Tickets for the theatrical screenings went on sale on May 14, 2021, and it was announced that the film would also be screened inDolby Cinema in select territories.[44][45] It was first screened for critics the same day.[46]
A prequel novel titledCruella: Hello, Cruel Heart was published byDisney Publishing Worldwide on April 6, 2021. Written byMaureen Johnson, the novel is set before the events of the movie, in 1967. It followed sixteen-year-old Estella and her encounter with Magda and Richard Moresby-Plum, two wealthy siblings who introduced her to the world of the rich and famous.[47] A tie-in novelization of the film by Elizabeth Rudnick was published by Disney on April 13, 2021.[48] A book titledCruella's Sketchbook was also released on the same day.[49] Amanga adaptation of the movie by Hachi Ishie, titledCruella: Black, White and Red was released byViz Media on August 17, 2021.[50]
On May 28, 2021,MAC Cosmetics launched a make-up collection inspired by the film.[51]
On May 28, 2021,Disney+, in partnership with Social Tailors and Jeferson Araujo released an AR Effect[52] forCruella, where users could share stories on Instagram of themselves with makeup and visuals inspired by the film.[53][54]
According toSamba TV, the film was watched onPVOD by about 686,000 American households in its debut weekend (39% behindMulan's 1.12 million), resulting in around $20.57 million in revenue for Disney. The company also reported 83,000 UK households watched the film (resulting in $2.35 million), 15,000 in Germany, and 9,000 in Australia.[55] In its first 30 days, the film was watched in an estimated 1.8 million U.S. households, generating a total of $54 million.[8] In January 2022, tech firmAkamai reported thatCruella was the seventh mostpirated film of 2021.[56]
Cruella grossed $86.1 million in the United States and Canada, and $147.4 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $233.5 million.[9][10]
In the United States and Canada,Cruella was released alongsideA Quiet Place Part II, and was projected to gross $17–23 million from 3,892 theaters in its opening weekend, and around $30 million over the four-dayMemorial Day frame.[60] The film made $7.7 million in its first day, including $1.4 million from Thursday night previews. It went on to debut to $21.5 million and a total of $26.5 million over the four days, finishing second at the box office. 61% of the tracked audience was female, with 43% being under 25 years old.[61][6] In its sophomore weekend the film grossed $11 million, finishing third behindThe Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It andA Quiet Place Part II.[62][63] The film then fell to 5th place in its third weekend, grossing $6.7 million.[64]Deadline Hollywood wrote that despite having a running total of $71 million through five weeks, sources believed that the "Disney+ Premier PVOD tier is impacting the pic's overall revenue, not just at the box office, but in the movie's downstream ancillary revenues".[65]
The film made $26.5 million in its domestic opening and earned $16.1 million in 29 other countries, for a global debut of $43 million.[66] In China,Cruella debuted with a less-than-expected $1.7 million opening, finishing behind holdoverF9 which earned $8.9 million.[67]
Cruella received positive-to-mixed reviews.[70][71] On the review aggregatorRotten Tomatoes, 75% of 415 critics have given the film a positive review, with an average rating of 6.8/10. The website's critics consensus reads: "Cruella can't quite answer the question of why its title character needed an origin story, but this dazzling visual feast is awfully fun to watch whenever its leading ladies lock horns."[72] OnMetacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 59 out of 100 based on 56 critic reviews, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.[73] Audiences polled byCinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale, whilePostTrak reported 84% of audience members gave it a positive score, with 63% saying they would definitely recommend it.[61]
The director, who brought a wicked edge to pop-culture reduxI, Tonya a few years back, has rescuedCruella from the predictability of the earlier101 Dalmatians remakes and created a stylish new franchise of its own in which a one-time villain has been reborn as the unlikeliest of role models.[4]
A. O. Scott ofThe New York Times called the film "easy enough to watch but hard to care much about", complimenting the film's visual style while also finding that "[the film's] main purpose is to remind you that other movies exist".[74]Peter Travers, reviewing the film forABC News, wrote:
If looks really were everything,Cruella would be flying high on the dazzling costumes that two-time Oscar winner Jenny Beavan has designed for star Emma Stone to swan around in as this iconic villain of page and screen. But looks alone won't cut it when the plot points are so hit and miss.[75][76]
Justin Chang ofLos Angeles Times remarked the movie as "dazzling fun" and lauded the performances of Stone and Thompson, of which he described the rivalry of the performances as "hard to resist on-screen", and hailed Beavan's costume design on the film as one of her best works sinceMad Max: Fury Road, while drawing parallels of the film's moral ambiguities and Stone's portrayal of the titular character to her previous performance asAbigail Hill inThe Favourite.[77]
Placing these characters in the '60s and '70s allows director Craig Gillespie and screenwriters Dana Fox and Tony McNamara to place the characters into an exciting moment of fashion history... Costumer Jenny Beavan, art director Martin Foley, and production designerFiona Crombie, and their respective departments, all seem to be enjoying and making the most of the film's period demands.[78]
In addition, Duralde also lauded the performances of Stone, Hauser, and Thompson, drawing comparisons of the characterizations of the latter's portrayal of the Baroness toMiranda Priestly inThe Devil Wears Prada and Reynolds Woodcock inPhantom Thread.[78]Peter Bradshaw ofThe Guardian awarded the film four out of five stars, describing it as "entertaining" and an "outrageous punk", as well as praising the performances and dynamic between Stone and Thompson. Furthermore, Bradshaw also complimented the tone of the film's soundtrack toMichael Jackson and similarly praised the film's mid-70s costume and production designs of Beavan and Crombie as "top-notch".[79]Chicago Sun-Times'sRichard Roeper rated the film with 3/4 stars, and highlighted Gillespie's direction for being "clever" and "devilishly offbeat" while praising the performances of Stone and Thompson as "appropriately over-the-top and wildly entertaining", drawing its comparisons toThe Devil Wears Prada and also commended the costumes, makeup, and the production values of which he referred to as "spectacular", "dazzling" and a "visual feast", comparing its style toPhantom Thread and noting the similarities of the vibe and tone of the film's soundtrack toGoodfellas,Kingsman: The Secret Service, andBaby Driver.[80]
The Daily Telegraph'sRobbie Collin scored the film four out of five, similarly praised the film, which he described as a "rollicking tale" and an "acid-tipped wackiness", and lauded the film for its different approach in the Disney live-action adaptations as well as the previous101 Dalmatians versions and its interpretation of the central character in a new context. He also similarly praised the performances (particularly Stone and Thompson) as well as the supporting cast, which he referred to as "zany", while specifically remarking of Stone's performance of Cruella De Vil as "sharp-angled, hyper-expressive" and that Thompson's portrayal of the Baroness "stalks the fine line between threatening and ludicrous with stiletto-heel precision". In addition, Collin also praised the film's visual style and Beavan's costume design as "eyeball-popping" and "a garden-hose-blast to the eyeballs of pure sartorial flair and exuberance".[81] K. Austin Collins ofRolling Stone rated the film with three out of five stars, praising Stone's success in embodying the titular character, and describing her performance as "vampy, stylish, and cruel" while comparing the film's style of storytelling toI, Tonya, of which he noted a similarinternalizedvictim-like story perspective ofTonya Harding to Cruella de Vil and even pointed out on the similar "plausibly two-sided" depiction of Stone's Cruella to Andrea "Andy" Sachs fromThe Devil Wears Prada, but with a twisted spin. He also commended the supporting performances, particularly Thompson and Hauser, referring the film as "a battle of wits and knits", "entertaining", and "fun".[82]The Hollywood Outsider's Morgan Lanier described the film as "taking place in the 70's with a lot of camp to lighten the mood", praising Stone for giving Cruella "a twist of vulnerability" and giving the longstanding Disney villain a "fun glimmer". Lanier also praised Thompson's performance saying "Thompson gives the baroness the ability to chill a room". Lanier concluded that the movie was "joyous, campy, great costumes [...] amplified by a killer soundtrack".[83] Kate Erbland ofIndieWire gave the film a "B−", and labelling the film as "exciting" and "fun" and a "colorful, loud, and unexpected look" on the origin story of Cruella De Vil while Erbland singled out the praises on the casting and the performances of Stone, Thompson, Fry, Hauser, and the costumes, but found fault at the film's runtime of which she referred it as "bloated".[84]
The Washington Post'sAnn Hornaday described the film as "tedious, transgressive, chaotic and inert". While praising the performances of Stone, Thompson, Fry, and Hauser, as well as the costumes; she criticized the film, writing, and the runtime of which she found it as "overstuffed", "overlong", and "miserably misanthropic".[85]Mick LaSalle of theSan Francisco Chronicle thought the film was misbegotten and felt that it favors more on style over substance. Though he praised Thompson's performance, the costume design and the soundtrack, he chided the film's writing as "lazy" and "careless".[86] Matt Zoller Seitz ofRogerEbert.com gave the film 2/4 stars, and said: "There's no denying thatCruella is stylish and kinetic, with a nasty edge that's unusual for a recent Disney live-action feature. But it's also exhausting, disorganized, and frustratingly inert, considering how hard it works to assure you that it's thrilling and cheeky."[87]Jacobin's Eileen Jones labelled the film as a "dopey, uninspired, and tedious mess", specifically criticizing the script as "basically rotten" and describing the transformation of Cruella's character as "the complete mangling of one of the greatest Disney villains of all time". Jones took issue with the absence of the "implied critique [...] of Cruella's wealthy entitlement and mad consumer obsession" as shown in101 Dalmatians, and the attempt to make a "legendary dalmatian-skinning villain" into a "scrappy, likable hero". Jones complimented the film's costume design, specifically emphasizing the "trash gown" shown at the Baroness fashion show, and describing it as "sufficiently cool that costume designer Jenny Beavan may win another Oscar".[88]
Unlike critics, audiences mostly enjoyed the film, with Rotten Tomatoes reporting 97% of over 5,000 audience reviews being positive.[72]
In May 2021, both Stone and Thompson stated that they would like to do a secondCruella film as both a sequel and prequel in the style ofThe Godfather Part II.[122] In June 2021, Disney announced that a sequel was officially in the early stages of development, with Gillespie and McNamara expected to return as director and writer, respectively.[123] In August 2021, Stone closed a deal to reprise her role in the sequel.[124]
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