The old expression "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" clearly doesn't apply when it comes to fairytales because Hollywood simply can't help but to put a new spin on almost all of the stories that we grew up with. The latest remake is another musical take on, this time starring pop singer Camila Cabello as the pauper-turned-princess, and the first look at the Amazon Studios film hints that this version of the Charles Perrault classic will be quite different from what we've seen before.
After being beat to the punch by an anonymous leak of the teaser, Amazon Studios released its first official trailer of Cinderella on Wednesday, June 30. In it, we're introduced to Ella (Cabello), who is an aspiring fashion designer in this iteration of the folk tale. She's got talent as big as her imagination, but making her dreams come true isn't easy, especially when her evil stepmother (Idina Menzel) is keeping her locked up in the house.
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One day, however, the chance to go out into the real world falls into Ella's lap, and her she excitedly seizes the opportunity with the help of her very well-dressed fairy godparent Fab G (played by Billy Porter).
"So do you want to go to that ball?" asks Fab G in the brief teaser.
"Yes!" replies an exasperated Ella. "I was just crying and singing about it like two minutes ago."
Cinderella has big shoes to fill; after all, this story has been told a million times before. In addition to the iconic 1950 animated Disney film, other versions of the fairy tale include Ever After starring Drew Barrymore (1998), A Cinderella Story starring Hillary Duff (2004), and of course, the only Cinderella that I acknowledge — the diverse-before-its time masterpiece that is Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella (1997), starring Brandy and her real-life fairy godmother Whitney Houston.
To make sure it has a fighting chance in the fairytale zeitgeist, Amazon rounded up a team of A-listers to support Cabello in the new musical. She, Porter, and Menzel will be joined by Minnie Driver, James Corden, Nicholas Galitzine, and Pierce Brosnan in the big budget production. It's been described as a "jukebox musical," meaning that the soundtrack will feature covers of modern pop songs, giving Cabello and her co-stars an opportunity to flex both their acting chops and their vocals.
Decided for yourself how this version Cinderella stacks up to its predecessors when it hits Amazon Prime on September 3, 2021.