‘Maleficent 2’ Headed Into Production

Disney’s Maleficent 2 is headed into production.

Maleficent was a box office hit for Disney in 2014 with a worldwide gross of $758 million. A sequel was announced to be in development in 2015, but there had be no updates on the status of the project until now.

The Tracking Board reports that scriptwriter for Disney’s upcoming Cruella movie, Jez Butterworth, has been hired to rewrite the script for Maleficent 2.

Butterworth, whose writing credits include James Bond film Spectre, Edge of Tomorrow, and James Brown biopic Get On Up, takes over for Maleficent writer Linda Woolverton who wrote an initial draft of the sequel’s screenplay.

Joe Roth, who was producer on the original Maleficent movie, is producing the sequel and Angelina Jolie is expected to reprise her role as the classic Sleeping Beauty villain, though Jolie does have a history of not doing sequels. The actress notably passed on both Wanted 2 and a Salt follow-up.

No plot details or expected release date have been given for Maleficent 2.