New Trailer for Disney's 'Cinderella' Casts a Spell

 Unlike Disney's Sleeping Beauty reimagining Maleficent, their live-action version of Cinderella seems to be taking a more traditional approach. Granted, it's tradition dressed up in lavish visual effects but for the most part the story is the one we're familiar with, and there's nothing wrong with that.

A new trailer for the magical fairy tale has been released, and it's easily the most lavish film Kenneth Branagh has ever directed. Lily James takes on the titular role with Cate Blanchett vamping it up as her evil stepmother, Lady Tremaine, and Helena Bonham Carter as her Fairy Godmother. While mostly following the same beats as the earlier trailer, this international cut does offer some glimpses of new footage, putting more emphasis on Blanchett who looks like the real scene-stealer. Couldn't Disney find a way to crossover Jolie's Maleficent with Blanchett's Tremaine? Somehow? Make it happen, Mouse House.

Also starring Richard Madden, Holliday Grainger, Sophie McShera, Hayley Atwell, and Stellan Skarsgard, Cinderella casts its spell on March 13th.

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First Trailer for Disney's Live-Action 'Cinderella' starring Lily James and Cate Blanchett

If the $1B earned by Alice in Wonderland taught Disney anything, it's that there is a a whole new market to be tapped into by remaking fairy tale classics. And so we've seen them jump into the genre with both feet, bringing us Maleficent earlier this year, adapting The Jungle Book and the upcoming Beauty and the Beast. That's really just the tip of the iceberg, though, continuing next year with Cinderella, and the dazzling first trailer for it has arrived.

Directed by and co-starring Kenneth Branagh (Thor) with up 'n comer Lily James in the title role, the film seems to be a straight retelling of the familiar story, not a total reimagining like Maleficent was.  Cate Blanchett stars as the wicked stepmother Lady Tremaine, Richard Madden (Game of Thrones) is Prince Charming, Helena Bonham Carter as the Fairy Godmother, plus supporting roles for Branagh's Marvel pals Stellan Skarsgard and Hayley Atwell.

Cinderella opens next year on March 13th.

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Jeff Daniels Boards 'The Martian'; Eric Bana gets'The Finest Hours'; Richard Madden Joins 'Bastille Day'

 Jeff Daniels, who has Dumb and Dumber Too and The Newsroom's third season coming up, has joined Ridley Scott's The Martian. The cast keeps getting better with Matt Damon in the lead and Kate Mara, Jessica Chastain, and Michael Pena in talks. Adapted from Andy Weir's book, The Martian follows the first astronaut to ever set foot on Mars as he tries to survive being abandoned by his crew after an accident. [THR]

Disney has added Eric Bana to the cast of The Finest Hours, the period thriller starring Casey Affleck and Chris Pine. Directed by Craig Gillespie, the film "chronicles the massive rescue mission that’s launched when a pair of oil tankers split in two off the coast of Cape Cod in 1952." In a role that sounds similar to what he did in Lone Survivor, Bana will play the respected Coast Guard warrant officer who sends his men out on the dangerous rescue mission. [Deadline]

Game of Thrones' Richard Madden will join fellow HBO alum Idris Elba in Bastille Day, the James Watkins-directed action flick which "follows a rogue U.S. CIA operative who is tasked with interrogating and eventually making a young American man, who’s also a con-artist, 'disappear' in order to avoid embarrassment to the U.S. government after the American is linked as the prime suspect to an attack on the Paris metro. After several more attacks, the operative realizes the young American is innocent and may be the only link to the person actually orchestrating the terrorist attacks."

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'Game of Thrones' star Richard Madden is the prince in Disney's 'Cinderella'

Life's pretty hard when you're Robb Stark, King in the North on HBO's Sunday night staple, Game of Thrones. Hopefully he'll find things a bit easier as a prince, where all he'll have to do is sweep Cinderella off her feet and make sure she wears the right size glass slippers. After a lengthy search led to Downton Abbey's Lily James taking the title role in their live-action Cinderella, Disney has now chosen Richard Madden, who plays Stark on the hit cable series, to be her Prince Charming.

Directed by Kenneth Branagh and co-starring Cate Blanchett as the evil stepmother, Cinderella is just the latest live-action adaptation of one of Disney's animated classics. They also have a new take on Sleeping Beauty, titled Maleficent, starring Angelina Jolie and due to hit theaters next year. This marks the first big screen tentpole for Madden, who also has Patrice LeConte's French romance A Promise coming up.

Filming on Cinderella begins this fall for release in 2014.

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