"Cinderella" is quite possibly the most well-known fairy tale of all time. Every culture has its own version of the story, and it has had more movie adaptations than any other fairy tale, which says something about its timelessness and popularity. Andrew Lloyd Webber is even working on a new musical of it to open whenever we're allowed to go to the theaters again. Of all the "Cinderella"s out there, there is one project that has been kept so under wraps that it hasn't even had a trailer even though it was supposed to come out today. That project is Sony's Cinderella starring one of the most adorable pop stars of our time, Camila Cabello. The movie was meant to celebrate diversity and feature the first gender neutral Fairy Godmother along with an array of modern pop songs. Like so many other movies that were supposed to come out over the past year, its release today never happened. It just might be more likely for a plain yellow pumpkin to become a golden carriage than for a "Cinderella" movie to come out on time during the pandemic.
The strangest thing about this movie is that there have been no trailers, clips, or promo images for it, save for one poorly timed screenshot of Camila Cabello in a plain corset dress. For a movie that was supposed to come out today, it doesn't seem like Sony wanted many people to know about it. The fact that they haven't promoted it at all makes me wonder if they ever truly intended for it to be released in February. There are
some articles about it, but they are primarily about casting and not the film itself. Perhaps Sony is concerned that people will inevitably confuse it for Disney and took so long to try to find an original way to market it that they ran out of time.
Cinderella is currently
set for release on July 16th, but that is still subject to change. The most likely reason for the delay is that Sony does not have their own streaming service and were therefore unable to go in the direction of
so many other theatrical releases from the past year that dropped as home releases instead. They will be launching
a new streaming service this spring, but it will only be available for a specific model of television sets that they manufacture.
What do we know about this new
Cinderella? Not a whole lot. Though it will feature pop music, the corset that Camila is wearing in the only known image suggests that it will take place in the distant past, unlike
A Cinderella Story, another adaptation of the fairy tale featuring a pop star as its lead.
Thanks to a tweet from the leading lady herself, we also know that the movie finished shooting in October of 2020. It's ready to go, but now it just needs an audience, which is bound to be Sony's biggest challenge with the release. One name that stands out among its all-star cast for Disney fans is Broadway star
Idina Menzel as Cinderella's stepmother. Idina is one of many
Broadway actresses who managed to successfully transition from stardom on stage as
Wicked's Elphaba to a full-fledged career in Hollywood. Princess fans will also recognize her as Nancy from
Disney's Enchanted, which is
getting a sequel in the near future, and the voice of Elsa from
Frozen. Sony's
Cinderella is confirmed to be a musical with at least some of the songs being remixes of modern-day pop songs including
a cover from Camila of Beyoncé's "Single Ladies."
If you don't want to wait until summer to see a diverse adaptation of "Cinderella," you're in luck!
Disney just announced that they will be launching their beloved 1997 take of
Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella on
Disney+ on February 12th. That's next week! This movie was one of many of Disney's princess productions that
was missing from the streaming service at launch, so it's exciting to see such a wonderful new addition that princess fans around the world can welcome with open arms. This version of "Cinderella" is one of my absolute favorites due in no small part to the gorgeous costumes, sets, songs, and stellar acting from its
diverse cast featuring
Whitney Houston and
Brandy Norwood. Several costumes from this film were on display at the
2019 D23 Expo, where Disney+ was officially launched, which made many fans even more nostalgic to see it again. I hope that one day, Disney will release all of its princess content on their streaming service so we won't have to keep wondering when we can watch our favorite movie next.
It seemed almost magical how Disney swooped in and saved the day with their enchanting Cinderella movie right after Sony pulled the rug out under theirs. Here's hoping that "it's possible" for July 16th to be the final release date to see Camila Cabello make her acting debut as one of the most famous fairy tale princesses of all time. Until then, sit back and relax next Friday as Brandy and Whitney Houston take the stage with their incredible rendition of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella. It is more necessary now than ever to make a wish come true and listen to the music in you.
Comments
I also wonder if Rogers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella was the inspiration for Tiana’s blue dress. I once read somewhere about a cosplayer who was a bit annoyed that people kept confusing her for Tiana when all she wanted was to dress as Cinderella.
I kind of get annoyed when people say that Brandy looked like Tiana in her Cinderella dress because the dresses are actually quite different if you look closely at them. Brandy's dress had off-the-shoulder sleeves with beadwork around them, a peplum, and a short that way made of vastly different material than the top. The dress that Charlotte gave Tiana looked like it was all one piece and had a blue ribbon around her hips. Plus, that was never meant to be her signature dress. The one she wears in the parks and on most of her default dolls is the beautiful green wedding dress with the big flower on it that she wore at the end of the movie.
I can relate to people not recognizing cosplay, though. It seems like the general public doesn't pay much attention to the costumes in movies or shows unless they are super fans. I wore Ariel's pink tea dress from her first dinner with Eric once, and people asked me if I was Sleeping Beauty, Belle, or Cinderella. Then I recreated the 2013 Fairytale Designer doll version of her "Kiss the Girl" dress, and everyone thought I was Anna from Frozen!
But I must say that I’m surprised that people confuse you for Belle in Ariel’s pink dress. Sure, Belle does wear pink at one point but the dress is not as “puffy” like Ariel’s. Plus the lack of a winter coat should be a hint. Then again you also have the colour scheme - Ariel’s red hair with light pink and Belle’s brown hair with darker pink.