Disney’s glass-slippered princess shows some backbone in the latest trailer for Cinderella, the live-action remake of the classic fairy tale (opening March 13). The new trailer reveals some further details about the film’s revamped story, beginning with the meet cute between Ella (Downton Abbey’s Lily James) and Prince Charming (Game of Thrones’ Richard Madden). Instead of the usual love-at-first-sight scene at the ball, animal lover Ella first gets the prince’s attention in the woods, when she issues a spirited objection to his stag hunt. The prince is immediately smitten, despite the objections of his father (Derek Jacobi), who wants him to “marry for the good of the kingdom.” In a novel twist, Ella’s stepmother (Cate Blanchett) conspires with the throne to keep the prince and his beloved apart, but she appears to have a wicked agenda of her own. “I will protect the prince from you, no matter what becomes of me,” Ella vows, taking on the hero role.
Ironically, the new trailer reveals even more similarities between the film and 1998’s non-Disney-affiliated Ever After: A Cinderella Story, which also had its heroine Ella (Drew Barrymore) meeting the prince on horseback in the woods, and vying with a Spanish princess for his affections. However, Ever After eschewed the element of magic, which appears prominently in the new film, from Helena Bonham Carter’s fairy godmother to Ella’s ability to chat with mice.
