Helen Mirren Targets Live Action Disney Nutcracker

Helen Mirren will play Mother Ginger in the upcoming Disney Nutcracker movie The cast of the Disney Nutcracker movie continues to grow today as The Hollywood Reporter brings word that Academy Award winner Helen Mirren is eyeing the part of Mother Ginger. The news breaks on the heels of word that Keira Knightley is set to take on the role of the Sugar Plum Fairy alongside Mackenzie Foy as Clara, Morgan Freeman as Drosselmeyer and American Ballet Theatre dancer Misty Copeland as the lead ballerina role for the film’s dance sequences. Titled The Nutcracker and the Four Realms, the film hails from director Lasse Hallstrom (My Life as a Dog, The Cider House Rules) and screenwriter Ashleigh Powell.  Most famously adapted as a ballet by Tchaikovsky in the late 19th century, the Nutcracker tale originated as a short story titled “The Nutcracker and the Mouse King” by E.T.A.