“Love doesn’t always end well,” warns Angelina Jolie in a new trailer for “Maleficent: Mistress of Evil.” Released in 2014, the original “Maleficent” offered a sympathetic portrait of the infamous “Sleeping Beauty” villain and ended on an optimistic note, with a reconciliation between its titular character (Jolie) and her goddaughter Aurora (Elle Fanning). But trouble is brewing. Aurora is newly engaged and Maleficent makes no secret of her disapproval. She’s traumatized by own history of romance, and seems to be trying to protect Aurora from the pain of love gone awry.
Queen Ingrith’s (Michelle Pfeiffer) arrival on the scene complicates matters even further. After congratulating Maleficent on “going against her own nature” to raise Aurora, she promises that she’ll finally offer the young woman “the love of a real mother.” Ingrith’s provocation elicits an extreme response from Maleficent, and chaos ensues: she and Aurora “are pulled apart to opposing sides in a Great War, testing their loyalties and causing them to question whether they can truly be family,” the film’s synopsis teases.
The first “Maleficent” took in over $758 million worldwide. Linda Woolverton penned the script. “Mistress of Evil,” which is co-written by Woolverton, hits theaters October 18.
