Maleficent: Mistress of Evil Deserves the IMAX Treatment

When modern Disney takes viewers into the realm of a classic fairy tale — whether it be down the rabbit hole of ALICE IN WONDERLAND or the mystical kingdom of CINDERELLA — it’s worth going out of your way to see the adventure on the biggest screen possible. The directors working with Walt Disney Studios are going the extra mile to realize these incredible locations through cutting-edge visual effects, and the MALEFICENT: MISTRESS OF EVIL director promises that his sequel has eye-popping creations that will earn a trip to your local IMAX at AMC theatre.

MALEFICENT: MISTRESS OF EVIL continues the story that began in MALEFICENT, where the title character (played by Angelina Jolie) fights for the attention and the soul of Princess Aurora (Elle Fanning). The original film was rich in silver-screen magic, bringing not only Maleficent to life, but also conjuring spectacular creatures and fantastical worlds. In a recent interview, MALEFICENT: MISTRESS OF EVIL director Joachim Ronning opened up to AMC about the effects work that he can’t wait to show off to IMAX audiences.

“It is amazing. These movies come together, and it takes years,” Ronning said. “But we are really conquering worlds and we are really discovering universes. Although this is a dark fairy tale, it has lots of comedy and humor and I must say great characters in itself. The wardrobe design is still, you know, brilliant. So I'm really… I just feel so fortunate to be able to do this job.”

Joachim Ronning mentions the costume design for MALEFICENT: MISTRESS OF EVIL because the first film actually earned an Oscar® nomination for the work done by Anna B. Sheppard. Remember your reaction the first time that you saw this costume on Angelina Jolie?

Joachim Ronning comes to MALEFICENT: MISTRESS OF EVIL after working on the most recent PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN feature, which also taught him a thing or two about delivering massive action set pieces for the biggest screens.

“These productions are so huge,” he said. “It’s thousands of people and they run over years and years of production. And I think what I most appreciate about them, and what you hope you also see after a while, is that the people around you [on set] are the best in the industry, in every aspect of the movie-making concepts, in all departments. They are the best at what they do. And I think for me, coming from independent films and being used to doing everything myself because we don't have the same resources or manpower, I think, you know, letting go a little bit became a big lesson on PIRATES and MALEFICENT. Letting people do their job and make me look good.”

Did they make him look good? Find out when MALEFICENT: MISTRESS OF EVIL opens in IMAX at AMC on October 18.