Maleficent 3 has yet to be officially confirmed by Disney, so it's unclear whether we'll ever get to see Angelina Jolie return as the iconic Disney villain.
Despite various reports that a threequel was in the works back in 2021, there has been no announcement from Disney about a third movie. Of course, the House of Mouse hasn't said that it isn't happening, so there's always hope that it might.
Angelina Jolie certainly seems up for a return, telling the D23 Inside Disney podcast in September 2021: "I love playing Maleficent, she's like my alter ego."
Maleficent: Mistress of Evil might not have matched the first movie at the box office, but it still grossed nearly $500 million worldwide. It's likely that if Disney wants to continue the story, that haul will be more than enough.
So, while we wait for any concrete news, here's everything you need to know about Maleficent 3.
Maleficent 3 potential release date: When could we see Maleficent 3?
As mentioned above, Maleficent 3 has yet to be confirmed by Disney, so we don't yet have an official release date.
Mistress of Evil started shooting in May 2018 and arrived in cinemas on October 18, 2019, having been moved up seven months from a May 2020 release date. A similar timeline, if the threequel films this year, means we could expect it in late 2024.
In 2024, Disney does have one slot free for a yet-to-be-confirmed movie on August 16, so that could fit for the threequel. However, given we've also got Snow White that year on March 22, we think Disney might wait until at least 2025 to drop another Maleficent movie.
This is just speculation for now, though, so we'll let you know if Maleficent 3 ever gets confirmed.
Maleficent 3 cast: Who would be back in Maleficent 3?
Well, definitely Angelina Jolie and Elle Fanning as Maleficent and Aurora, respectively, as it wouldn't be the same without them.
And if Maleficent is back, so too would be her faithful servant Diaval, played by Sam Riley.
Harris Dickinson took over from Brenton Thwaites as Prince Phillip due to scheduling conflicts, so we'd assume that now Aurora and Phillip are married, Dickinson would return.
Watch Maleficent: Mistress of Evil on Disney+
Technically, Michelle Pfeiffer could be back as Queen Ingrith — Maleficent or another magical being would just have to turn her back from a goat. No such trouble for Robert Lindsay, though, as King John woke up from the curse when the spinning wheel was destroyed.
The fate of the Queen's devious engineer Gerda (Jenn Murray) is up in the air. In the sequel, we saw her fall from a height but didn't see her die.
One person who did die, unfortunately, is pixie Flittle (Lesley Manville), who sacrificed herself to save her fellow Moors creatures.
The same goes for Chiwetel Ejiofor as dark fae Conall, who was seemingly mortally wounded protecting Maleficent. But this is a fantastical world, so who knows if he will be resurrected?
Ed Skrein's Borra survived the major battle at the end of the sequel, and he seems keen to return to the character.
"I would love to go back to Borra. I've almost never had a character I've wanted to go back to before," he told Digital Spy.
Maleficent 3 plot: How does Maleficent 2's ending set up a third movie?
As a surprise to no one, Queen Ingrith is a full-on villain. She places a sleeping curse on her husband, King John, to turn Aurora against Maleficent.
All the while, Queen Ingrith has been plotting with engineer Gerda to create a poison from tomb blooms (flowers that grow on fairy graves in the Moors) that will wipe out all magical creatures from the Moors.
Queen Ingrith uses the wedding of Aurora to her son Prince Phillip to bring all the Moors creatures to a church, where she locks them in and Gerda unleashes the poison. Little does she know, though, that dark fae Borra is leading an assault on the kingdom of Ulstead. A battle quickly ensues.
Maleficent arrives and sacrifices herself to save Aurora from an arrow, but she rises again as a phoenix and saves Aurora after Queen Ingrith throws her off the tower.
Borra captures the Queen, Maleficent turns her into a goat and Aurora and Phillip get married, uniting the kingdom of Ulstead and the Moors.
And everyone lives happily ever after.
Well, that is unless there's a third movie, which would have to manufacture some tension from somewhere. There aren't really any lingering plot threads for the potential threequel to draw on, but there also weren't many in the first film either.
Director Joachim Rønning isn't against a third movie, and could see how the world continues, but told Digital Spy: "We'll see... Let's see how this goes and take it from there."
Fair enough.
Maleficent 3 trailer: Any Maleficent 3 footage?
You'll have to wait until Maleficent 3 is confirmed for us to be able to give you a good estimate of when the first trailer will arrive.
The first trailer for the sequel was released in May 2019, five months before the movie hit cinemas, so that's the kind of timescale we're looking at if and when the threequel is confirmed.
Maleficent and Maleficent: Mistress of Evil are both available to watch on Disney+.
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Ian Sandwell
Movies Editor, Digital Spy Ian has more than 10 years of movies journalism experience as a writer and editor. Starting out as an intern at trade bible Screen International, he was promoted to report and analyse UK box-office results, as well as carving his own niche with horror movies, attending genre festivals around the world. After moving to Digital Spy, initially as a TV writer, he was nominated for New Digital Talent of the Year at the PPA Digital Awards. He became Movies Editor in 2019, in which role he has interviewed 100s of stars, including Chris Hemsworth, Florence Pugh, Keanu Reeves, Idris Elba and Olivia Colman, become a human encyclopedia for Marvel and appeared as an expert guest on BBC News and on-stage at MCM Comic-Con. Where he can, he continues to push his horror agenda – whether his editor likes it or not.
