DUBAI: Hollywood actress Elle Fanning, the star of Disney’s latest fairytale flick “Maleficent: Mistress of Evil,” just posed for a photoshoot in an ethereal gown by Lebanese designer Reem Acra.
The star posed alongside Angelina Jolie for People magazine wearing a blush gown by the designer.
In the series of playful images, Fanning wears a horned headpiece — usually worn by Jolie’s character, Maleficent — and a gown with a sweetheart neckline and beaded bodice. The geometric beading runs across the length of the gown, which also features a barely-there belt to cinch in the waist and a spray of tulle at the hip.
“Fairytale magic. @ElleFanning wears #ReemAcraBohemianDisco while promoting her latest film #Maleficent2,” the Lebanese fashion house posted on its Instagram account.
In “Maleficent: Mistress of Evil,” the sequel set six years later, Maleficent hardly lives up to that title, but rumor would have it otherwise. The story of the sleeping beauty Aurora (Fanning) has spread across the land, painting Maleficent as the villain, rather than the one whose love saved her. Now, as Aurora plans to marry Prince Phillip (Harris Dickinson), Maleficent must meet the neighboring Queen Ingrith (Michelle Pfeiffer), who wishes to destroy Maleficent and her magical world.
While the film features a lot of violent spectacle, the inner conflict of the lead characters themselves is whether they are strong enough to resist becoming violent, rather than the inverse.
“That’s something that isn’t portrayed a lot on screen — a lot of princesses grew up and they said, ‘Well, we’re going to make her a strong princess, and we’re going to make her tough, so we’re going to make her fight!’ Is that what being a strong woman means? We’re going to have to have a sword and armor on and fight? Aurora can do that in a different way, in a pink dress. It’s beautiful that she keeps her softness and vulnerabilities as her strengths,” Fanning told Arab News in a previous interview.
“Maleficent: Mistress of Evil” debuted atop the North American box office at the weekend, but the big-budget fantasy flick fell far short of expectations, industry figures showed Monday.
The film took in $36.9 million, but that was well shy of projections that it would earn $45 million and a sharp drop-off from the first film’s $69.4 million launch in 2014.
