Did you watch A Cinderella Story (2004), with Hillary Duff, on repeat growing up and decide that you too would apply to Princeton? Was Ella Enchanted (2005), starring Anne Hathaway, another favourite? Cinderella, the newest iteration of this classic fairy tale, releases on Amazon Prime Video on September 3 and stars singer Camila Cabello in the lead role. Here's everything you need to know about the film:
Cinderella is singer Camila Cabello's debut role but she's been part of the music industry since 2012. She auditioned for the competitive reality show X Factor, during which she and other contestants Ally Brooke, Normani, Lauren Jauregui, and Dinah Jane formed the girl group Fifth Harmony, releasing pop hits like 'Worth It' and 'Work From Home'. Her solo album, Camila, was released in 2018 and debuted at #1 in the US.
The film also stars Idina Menzel as Cinderella's stepmother, Maddie Baillio and Charlotte Spencer as the stepsisters and Billy Porter as the Fabulous Godmother. Nicolas Galitzine plays Prince Robert, who falls in love with Cinderella, while Minnie Driver and Pierce Brosnan play his parents, the king and queen.
Her films about female friendships are warm, funny and insightful. You might know her for writing and producing the Pitch Perfect trilogy, about an all-female group of competitive acapella singers, which stars Anna Kendrick, Anna Camp, Rebel Wilson, Brittany Snow and Hailee Steinfeld. A year after it ended, she made her directorial debut with the sex comedy Blockers, in which a three best friends (Kathryn Newton, Gideon Adlon, and Geraldine Viswanathan) attempt to lose their virginity on prom night, unaware that their overprotective parents are working behind the scenes to foil their plans.
This version of the movie is a modern, femininist reimagining of the classic fairy tale. "I was like: I could retell the Cinderella story. I could modernize it, and change Cinderella so that she's vocal and active," director Kay Cannon told Entertainment Weekly earlier this year.
The villain in the film is not Cinderella's evil stepmother, but regressive and misogynistic societal norms. Cinderella's only dream is to open a boutique at which she can sell the dresses she's designed, but her town forbids women from pursuing matters of business. The only course of action open to her is to marry a rich man and live a life of luxury. While other women are content with these old-fashioned traditions, Cinderella pushes back. She attempts to sell her dresses at the town square even though she's met with hostility and accused of being a thief by neighbours who don't believe that she designed the clothes herself. When her stepmother arranges for her to be married off, she insists that she's the only one who has the right to accept or decline any marriage proposals made to her. Her efforts finally pay off when she gets the opportunity to work as a wealthy woman's fashion consultant.
Another big change from the source material? There's no fairy godmother. Instead, there's "genderless" Fabulous Godmother, played by Billy Porter.
You heard right. Along with covers of classic songs like Queen's 'Somebody To Love' and Madonna's 'Material Girl', both Idina Menzel and Camila Cabello get to sing original tracks.
Recommendation in collaboration with Amazon Prime Video