You know we are in the midst of a fairy tale revival, right? All of your beloved fairy tales are being “re-imagined” and “f—ked up” by Hollywood, to mixed results. Snow White and the Huntsman did well at the box office, while the other Snow White re-telling, Mirror, Mirror, didn’t even make back its production costs. There are lots of other examples – Little Red Riding Hood, Grimm fairy tales, Angelina Jolie’s take on Maleficent, a retelling of Sleeping Beauty, etc – but what’s important here is that Cinderella is the latest fairy tale up for grabs. Disney is going to make a live-action version of Cinderella for a new generation of little girls. Lily James (Annoying Flapper Rose from Downton Abbey) was already cast as Cinderella. And CATE BLANCHETT was cast as the evil stepmother (Evil Bonus Mom)!!!!!!!!!!! And now we have a new Prince Charming, and he’s The King of the North. Robb Stark! Otherwise known as Richard Madden.

It’s official! Disney has issued a press release naming Richard Madden as the Prince in their upcoming live-action re-imagining of Cinderella. The Scottish actor, who is best known for playing Robb Stark (King of the North!) on Game of Thrones, will be joining a cast that includes Downton Abbey’s Lily James as the titular princess, and the ever-elegant Cate Blanchett as the evil stepmother, Lady Tremaine.

Madden was first mentioned as a contender for the part of Prince Charming back when James was facing callbacks, along with other potential Cinderellas, Bella Heathcoate (Dark Shadows), and Margot Robbie (Pan Am). With its leads finally secured, Cinderella is closer than ever before to stepping into production. It’s been a rocky road to get this far.

You might remember that last winter the project was considering three different ingénues (Saoirse Ronan, Alicia Vikander, and Gabriella Wilde), back when Mark Romanek was lined up to direct. But by January he’d be dumped for the project over concerns he was making the fairy tale adaptation too dark for Disney’s liking. By month’s end, Kenneth Branagh committed to helm and soon Emma Watson was in talks for the lead…until she left to be Belle in Guillermo del Toro’s forthcoming Beauty in the Beast.

…With a script by comedy scribes Aline Brosh McKenna (The Devil Wears Prada) and Chris Weitz (About a Boy), it seems Madden will have the opportunity to try his hand at warmth and whimsy too.

[From Cinema Blend]

Richard Madden just seems like one of those perfectly chiseled, perfectly vanilla dudes who can easily play the “Prince Charming” stereotype. I would also include Armie Hammer and James Marsden on that list, which is good because both have played cartoon-y princes in live-action fairy tales already. Madden’s take on Robb Stark is kind of goody-two-shoes, but that might just be the writing. Basically, I’m saying that I will give Madden a chance as Charming. But really, let’s face it, we’re going to see this because of Lady Blanchett.

Photos courtesy of WENN.