Downton Abbey starlet Lily James has found a new outlet for her talents, as the star of Disney’s upcoming live action adaptation of Cinderella. We’ve already witnessed James’s ability to portray dainty, elegant characters in her role as Lady Rose on Downton, but it will be interesting to see what the actress brings to the role of Cinderella. Particularly because the recent string of fairy tale adaptations haven’t done too well at the box office (see: Jack The Giant Slayer or Red Riding Hood). This one has been in the works for a while, though, reportedly ever since the release of Tim Burton’s wonky retelling of Alice in Wonderland. Then again, that movie was nothing to rave about either, so are we to expect anything different from this go-around?

Well, some pretty notable people have completed drafts for the script for this one: Twilight: New Moon’s Chris Weitz and The Devil Wears Prada’s Aline Brosh McKenna. In addition to James, Cate Blanchett is set to co-star as Cinderella’s evil step mom. Ok, we know it all sounds pretty low-brow so far. Add to all this the fact that Emma Watson turned down the part, before it was offered to James and the full picture starts to clear up – namely, another fairytale adaptation we won’t be paying to see.

Lily James, Lawrence Olivier Awards
We can definitely picture James fitting into that little glass slipper.