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'Cinderella': Can anything stop the fairy tale movie trend?

Early reviews for 'Cinderella' have been mixed, but if studios are looking at box office receipts, many of the fairy tale live action remakes that have scored at the box office have scored big. 

A live-action remake of 鈥淐inderella鈥� starring 鈥�Downton Abbey鈥� actress Lily James and directed by Kenneth Branagh heads to theaters on March 13, and if its box office performance is anything like it鈥檚 being predicted, it may further cement the fairy tale remake movie trend.

鈥淐inderella鈥� stars James as Cinderella, 鈥淕ame of Thrones鈥� actor Richard Madden as the prince, Cate Blanchett of the 鈥淗obbit鈥� films as Cinderella鈥檚 stepmother, and Helena Bonham Carter of 鈥淏urton and Taylor鈥� as her fairy godmother. The movie is being released by Disney, which was of course behind the successful 1950 animated adaptation. As we previously reported, Disney also has remakes of their version of 鈥淏eauty and the Beast鈥� and 鈥淒umbo鈥� planned. 鈥淣oah鈥� actress Emma Watson is on board to star as Belle in 鈥淏eauty鈥� (will 鈥淒ownton Abbey鈥� actor Dan Stevens portray the Beast?) and director Tim Burton may take on the 鈥淒umbo鈥� film.聽

Will the new version of 鈥淐inderella鈥� succeed critically? The story can be a tougher sell to modern audiences. Some versions like 1998鈥檚 鈥淓ver After鈥� expand the relationship between Cinderella and the prince (and make Cinderella a fan of reading, in that movie鈥檚 case). As for this one, Branagh said of the movie in an interview with E!, 鈥淲e've given it a contemporary feel that is human and humane and strangely enough, not built around the idea that Cinderella's life depends on finding a man or things, like clothes or a title, or just hoping this magic will come along. It's much more about who she is, what she feels about herself, and taking that kind of sort of spiritual cue to make it refreshing in a contemporary way.鈥�

However, the verdict among critics so far is mixed on whether the story is refreshing or contemporary enough. So far 鈥� since the movie is not yet out, some reviews are still coming in 鈥� the film has a score of 64 out of 100 on review aggregator website . writer David Rooney found that Cinderella 鈥済radually reveals the qualities of a self-possessed modern girl鈥� and wrote of the romance between the prince and Cinderella, 鈥淭he film defines their love not as an act of rescue but of two people accepting each other for who they are.鈥�

However, some critics felt otherwise, with Peter Debruge of writing that 鈥淐inderella doesn鈥檛 necessarily come across any more dimensional here than she did in the earlier animated film鈥� and critic Guy Lodge found that 鈥渋ts go-getting villain [the stepmother] is the only element of this irony-free interpretation that feels remotely revisionist鈥� One might have expected the co-creator of American Pie to give Cinders a little more spunk, so to speak, but she鈥檚 relentlessly ingenuous,鈥� though Lodge felt that 鈥渢he film鈥檚 naff, preserved-in-amber romanticism is its very charm.鈥�

So how will the movie鈥檚 eventual critical reception affect future fairy tale movie adaptations? It鈥檚 no secret to anyone who鈥檚 been going to the movies that fairy tales are everywhere lately. Some fairy tale movies like "Jack the Giant Slayer" and "Mirror Mirror" have not been box office hits. But many of those that have hit, like 2014's 鈥淢aleficent,鈥� 2012鈥檚 鈥淪now White and the Huntsman,鈥� and the 2010 movie 鈥淎lice in Wonderland,鈥� have hit big. "Alice" was the second-highest-grossing movie of its year, according to the website , while "Maleficent" was eighth-highest. According to , 鈥淐inderella鈥� should have a strong opening this weekend, with some children on spring break and the film having cost less than other fairy tale productions like 鈥淢aleficent.鈥� If 鈥淐inderella鈥� does as well as predicted, it will just ensure even further that the fairy tale trend continues.