'A win for us all': Fans rejoice as Angelina Jolie confirms she'll reprise her role in 'Maleficent 3'

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Angelina Jolie has confirmed that she will be reprising her role as the villainous character in Disney's ‘Maleficent 3’, as reported in a recent profile with WSJ Magazine.

However, no further details about the cast and production dates of the movie have been revealed so far.

 

This announcement comes four years after the release of the sequel, ‘Maleficent: Mistress of Evil’.

It remains unclear who will join Jolie in the cast. Previous installments of the ‘Maleficent’ franchise have featured Elle Fanning as Aurora, Maleficent's step-daughter, as well as Michelle Pfeiffer, Harris Dickinson, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Ed Skrein, Juno Temple, and others.

Maleficent is the evil fairy from the 1959 animated film ‘Sleeping Beauty’, and Angelina Jolie portrayed her in the 2014 live-action movie.

Five years later, Jolie reprised her role in ‘Mistress Of Evil’, still donning black horns, fighting fairies, and attempting to reconcile her conflicted maternal instincts for Elle Fanning's lovely Princess Aurora.

The 2014 film earned $758 million worldwide, while its sequel grossed $491.7 million, adding to Disney's successful series of dark fairy tales.

What else did Jolie reveal in her WSJ interview?

In 2014, when Jolie was offered the role, she couldn't resist the opportunity to have some fun with her children. Being the entertainer that she is, she decided to use her scary costume to prank them.

The 48-year-old Hollywood icon shared in 2019, “I actually pranked my kids when I first did Maleficent and I scared one of my kids! And I’ll never do that again.”

She continued, “I won't say which kid it was but, I thought, when I had first put it on and they had never seen it, and I thought it would be fun to kind of, you know. But when you’re little, you don't realize what mom means, to a kid.”

Jolie explained at the time, “I think that's why Maleficent's so scary, is because she's a woman. So it's almost like a mom. Mom means so much and when mom transforms into something that’s like a demon, it had a really bad effect and I had to kind of peel it off and take everything off in front of my kids to say, ‘It's me! Its me! It's OK.'”

Although the mother of six confirmed her upcoming role with Disney Studios, she also implied that she's ready to say goodbye to Hollywood.

In WSJ's new December/January issue, she discussed leaving the City of Angels for Cambodia after losing the ability to travel freely amid her bitter divorce battle with Brad Pitt.

The actress spoke out about her dislike of Hollywood, explaining that she believes it is a “shallow place.”

“It’s part of what happened after my divorce - I lost the ability to live and travel as freely,” she shared with the publication. “I will move when I can.”

“I grew up in quite a shallow place. Of all the places in the world, Hollywood is not a healthy place. So you seek authenticity,” she added.

She admitted that she would likely never have become an actress if she were entering the industry today.

Jolie said, “When I was starting out, it wasn’t as much of an expectation to be as public, to share so much.”

Angelina wishes to move away as soon as she can to live in her home in Asia, but not until her ongoing legal battle with her ex-husband comes to a resolution.

Internet overjoyed at news of Jolie's return

Amid rumors that Angelina Jolie was leaving acting to focus on her humanitarian work, the news of her return to the iconic role has brought relief to her fans.

One X user said, "A win for us all." Another user stated, "Mother is back." Someone else wrote, "This is one of the best entertainment news of the day."

A user tweeted, "Any movie Angelina Jolie is on, count me in." Another said, "There’s no melificent without her and they know that!"

Someone else stated, "I couldn’t picture someone else in this role." 

One user wrote, "You know the movie is lit when you see Angelina Jolie in it." Another tweeted, "Oh my gosh!!! She blesses our screen one more time."