Helen Mirren Targets Live Action Disney Nutcracker

Helen Mirren will play Mother Ginger in the upcoming Disney Nutcracker movie

The cast of the Disney Nutcracker movie continues to grow today as The Hollywood Reporter brings word that Academy Award winner Helen Mirren is eyeing the part of Mother Ginger. The news breaks on the heels of word that Keira Knightley is set to take on the role of the Sugar Plum Fairy alongside Mackenzie Foy as Clara, Morgan Freeman as Drosselmeyer and American Ballet Theatre dancer Misty Copeland as the lead ballerina role for the film’s dance sequences. Titled The Nutcracker and the Four Realms, the film hails from director Lasse Hallstrom (My Life as a Dog, The Cider House Rules) and screenwriter Ashleigh Powell. 

Most famously adapted as a ballet by Tchaikovsky in the late 19th century, the Nutcracker tale originated as a short story titled “The Nutcracker and the Mouse King” by E.T.A. Hoffmann in 1816. In it, a young girl’s dolls come to life on Christmas Eve alongside a noble nutcracker, who protects her from a villainous army of mice. There is no word on how much fidelity this new take will have to the original source material, although Powell reportedly spent two solid years developing the project. 

Mark Gordon is producing the Disney Nutcracker movie, with Lindy Goldstein executive producing.

Technically, the Disney Nutcracker movie marks another live-action remake of a classic Disney animation, as a famous segment in 1940’s Fantasia was built around the ballet. More recent live-action attempts on adapting the story include George Balanchine’s 1993 The Nutcracker, featuring Macaulay Culkin, and 2009’s Nutcracker in 3D starring Elle Fanning, Nathan Lane and John Turturro.

Helen Mirren, who stars later this year in David Frankel’s Collateral Beauty, is also set to play a part in next year’s Universal Pictures franchise sequel Fast 8.

What do you think of Helen Mirren as the Mother Ginger? Is there anyone else you’d like to see join the Disney Nutcracker cast? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

(Photo Credit: Joseph Marzullo / WENN.com)

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