Maleficent 2: FIRST look and new release date for Angelina Jolie film

This revisionist take on Sleeping Beauty was the first major success for the new Disney live-action fairy tales. A sequel was always inevitable but it has taken five years for Jolie to fly back into view as the misunderstood dark queen. After some candid shots from the set and the cast’s Instagram accounts last year, the first official image has been released. Fans can also start planning their Halloween costumes accordingly, since the film has been perfectly timed to coincide with the annual costume frenzy.

The first new poster for Maleficent: Mistress of Evil was released today. It shows Jolie looking moody and magnificent, adorned only with those already-iconic horns and wings.

The official plot synopsis warns Maleficent and Dakota Fanning’s Aurora will have to gather all their strength once again: “A fantasy adventure that picks up several years after Maleficent, in which audiences learned of the events that hardened the heart of Disney’s most notorious villain and drove her to curse a baby Princess Aurora.

“Maleficent II continues to explore the complex relationship between the horned fairy and the soon to be Queen, as they form new alliances and face new adversaries in their struggle to protect the moors and the magical creatures that reside within.”

MALEFICENT 2 OFFICIAL POSTER BELOW

The film will be released on October 18, with Halloween falling on October 31.

Jolie and Fanning are joined by Hollywood royalty Michelle Pfeiffer as Queen Ingrith.

The film also stars Brits Chiwetel Ejiofor, Ed Skrein and Robert Lindsay. Harris Dickinson replaces Brendon Thwaites as Prince Phillip but Sam Riley returns as man-crow Diaval. Imelda Staunton, Juno Temple and Lesley Manville are back to cause more bumbling mayhem as the well-meaning but hopeless pixies.

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Back in 2014, the first Maleficent movie banked $758million, a huge success and the seal of approval for the budding live action projects.

Since then, Disney has unleashed The Jungle Book, Cinderella and Beauty and the Beast, with three huge versions of Aladdin, Lion King and Dumbo flying into cinemas this year alone.

MALEFICENT MISTRESS OF EVIL IS OUT ON OCTOBER 18