Keira Knightley is in talks to play the Sugar Plum Fairy in Disney’s adaptation of The Nutcracker, based on the classic ballet by Peter Tchaikovsky and the story by E.T.A. Hoffmann.
Lasse Hallstrom is set to direct the project, titled The Nutcracker and the Four Realms, which already has Mackenzie Foy, ballerina Misty Copeland and Morgan Freeman on board.
The classic story told of a young girl named Clara (Foy) who receives a nutcracker doll from her godfather on Christmas Eve. When she goes to check on it later, the clock strikes midnight and she finds herself thrust into a fantastical world where she is in the middle of a war between gingerbread soldiers and an army of mice.
“The Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy” is not only one of the signature pieces of the Nutcracker ballet, but in all of ballet.
However, due to the nature of the adaptation, it is unclear if the role calls for Knightley to dance. Copeland may be the only dancer in the movie.
Mark Gordon is producing the live-action project, which has a script by Ashleigh Powell.
Knightley is already established in the Disney family, having starred in the studio’s Pirates of the Caribbean movies. She last appeared in Everest and next appears in New Line’s Will Smith drama Collateral Beauty, which opens Dec. 16.
