Disney’s Maleficent 2 to film in the UK

The UK is set to host another major Disney film as Maleficent 2, starring Angelina Jolie, gears up to film next year.

The latest in a succession of features from the US studio giant, the film is from Hollywood producer Joe Roth of Roth Films. Joachim Ronning is lined up to direct from a screenplay by UK writer Jez Butterworth.

Roth also produced the original in 2014, which went on to become one of the highest-grossing films of that year, as well as winning several awards and an Oscar nomination.

Jolie reprises her eponymous role based on the iconic villain from Disney’s Sleeping Beauty and inspired by Charles Perrault’s fairy tale.

Maleficent 2 is one of several major international features lining up UK shoots next year. It joins the Kenneth Branagh-directed Artemis Fowl (also for Disney), Robert Downey Jr's Doctor Dolittle film for Universal and Detective Pikachu, directed by Rob Letterman.

Figures published last month by the British Film Institute showed that the total film spend in the UK for the first nine months of this year was a record-breaking £1.8bn, with a massive £1.6bn of this coming from inward investment features.