Emma Watson as Cinderella?

by Rappler.comPosted on 03/07/2013 11:43 AM |Updated 03/07/2013 1:29 PM

ONLY IN FAIRY TALES. British actress Emma Watson might just slip on a glass slipper for the role of Cinderella. Photo from the Emma Watson Facebook page

MANILA, Philippines - Emma Watsons fairy godmother might just be watching over her.

According to Variety.com, the 22-year-old actress is in very early talks to play Cinderella in a new Disney film by director Kenneth Branagh.

Branagh has directed a slew of film adaptations of Shakespearean plays including Henry V for which he was nominated for a Best Director Oscar. He is also an accomplished actor; he co-starred with Watson in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets where he played Professor Gilderoy Lockhart.

Disney has not confirmed that Watson will play the beloved fairy tale character. Other actresses reportedly being considered for the role are Gabriella Wilde (The Three Musketeers), Saoirse Ronan (Atonement) and Alicia Vikander (Anna Karenina).

Oscar-winning actress Cate Blanchett is rumored to play Cinderellas evil stepmother.

The studio hopes to begin production early this year and to release the film in 2014.

Ever ! since being chosen to play Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter franchise at the age of 9, Watsons acting career has been on the rise.

READ: Careful searching 'Emma Watson'

She was well-received by critics for her role in The Perks of Being a Wallflower and has wrapped up roles in Darren Aronofskys Noah and the Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg comedy, This is the End.

She will star next in the Sofia Coppola film The Bling Ring. She has also been cast to play Beauty in Beauty and the Beast for actor-director Guillermo del Toro.

If she is cast as Cinderella in the Disney movie, it wont be the first time Watson has encountered the role. In 2009, she considered playing the character in a musical to be written and directed by rock musician Marilyn Manson.

This live-action Disney Cinderella will be the latest in a string of recent fairy tale film adaptations that began with Tim Burtons 2010 box office hit Alice in Wonderland" starring Mia Wasikowska and Johnny Depp.

It was followed by the yet-to-be-released Angelina Jolie starrer Maleficent (about the villainess in Sleeping Beauty), Snow White and the Hunstman (starring Kristen Stewart, Chris Hemsworth), Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters (starring Gemma Arterton, Jeremy Renner), Oz: The Great and Powerful (starring James Franco, Mila Kunis), and Jack the Giant Slayer (starring Nicholas Hoult, Eleanor Tomlinson). -! With reports by Pia Ranada/Rappler.com

('Oz: The Great and Powerful' opens in Philippine cinemas today, March 7.)