[6] Starring Lily James as the title character, the film features a supporting ensemble cast including Cate Blanchett, Richard Madden, Stellan Skarsgård, Holliday Grainger, Derek Jacobi, and Helena Bonham Carter.

Mark Romanek was initially set to direct in August 2011, but left the project in January 2013 due to creative differences with Disney and was replaced by Branagh, while Weitz was hired to revise McKenna's script.

Cinderella premiered at the 65th Berlin International Film Festival on February 13, 2015, and was released theatrically in the United States on March 13 in standard and IMAX formats by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures.

After casting a final spell to prevent Ella's stepfamily from recognizing her, the Fairy Godmother warns her the magic will end at the last stroke of midnight.

The Grand Duke, who promised Kit to Princess Chelina of Zaragoza for political reasons, expresses annoyance and is overheard by Lady Tremaine.

As the new King, Kit issues a proclamation professing his love for "the mysterious princess who wore glass slippers to the ball" and requests she present herself.

Jana Pérez portrays Princess Chelina of Zaragoza, Kit's unwanted suitor, whom the Grand Duke wants him to marry.

Tom Edden and Gareth Mason play Lizard Footman and Goose Coachman, the human forms of Ella's animal friends.

Walt Disney Pictures began developing a live-action reimagining of Charles Perrault's fairy tale Cinderella in May 2010, following the box-office success of Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland (2010).

The studio made a seven-figure pitch deal with Aline Brosh McKenna and Simon Kinberg, who were set as screenwriter and producer, respectively.

[15] In August 2011, Mark Romanek was hired to direct the film,[14] with Chris Weitz brought on to revise McKenna's script in February 2012.

[17] Romanek supervised the project for fifteen months,[18] but left in January 2013 due to creative differences with Disney, as his vision of the film was darker than the studio wanted.

[23] A few days later, Saoirse Ronan, Alicia Vikander, and Gabriella Wilde were reported to be in the running for the role of Cinderella,[24] with Imogen Poots also being considered.

[27] Later, after she was cast as Belle in the 2017 live-action film adaptation of Beauty and the Beast (1991), directed by Bill Condon and starring alongside Dan Stevens, Watson elaborated that she refused because Cinderella's character did not resonate with her.

[32] By June 2013, Holliday Grainger was set to play Anastasia,[33] and a few days later, Sophie McShera, who had previously co-starred with James in the ITV television series Downton Abbey (2010–2015), was reported to be in talks for the role of Drisella.

[37] The following month, Stellan Skarsgård, who had previously worked with Branagh in Thor (2011), signed on to portray the Grand Duke,[38] and Hayley Atwell landed the role of Cinderella's mother in August 2013.

[39] In September 2013, as the principal photography began, The Walt Disney Studios announced the casting of Branagh's frequent collaborator Derek Jacobi as the King and Nonso Anozie as the Captain.

[52][53] The film was previewed at CinemaCon in Las Vegas, Nevada, in March 2014, with a teaser showing Cinderella hearing about her father's death, meeting the prince while riding through the forest, her mother's ball gown being torn apart by her step-family, and a comedic section where the Fairy Godmother transforms a pumpkin into a carriage.

In the minute-long teaser, which doesn't include any footage from the film, a sparkling glass slipper is slowly revealed over a black background.

[71] Blu-ray bonus features include an alternate opening, the Frozen Fever short, and the featurettes: "Staging The Ball", "Ella's Furry Friends", "A Fairy Tale Comes to Life", and "Costume Test Fun".

[78] Deadline Hollywood calculated the film's net profit as $164.77 million, accounting for production budgets, marketing, talent participations, and other costs; box office grosses and home media revenues placed it eighth on their list of 2015's "Most Valuable Blockbusters".

[78] Cinderella finished its first week at the box office with $87.55 million, which was very high end of the film's lofty pre-release expectations.

The website's critics consensus reads, "Refreshingly traditional in a revisionist era, Kenneth Branagh's Cinderella proves Disney hasn't lost any of its old-fashioned magic.

[78][81] David Rooney of The Hollywood Reporter reviewed the film at the Berlin Film Festival and praised the special effects, the screenplay, and Blanchett's performance and said that "anyone nostalgic for childhood dreams of transformation will find something to enjoy in an uplifting movie that invests warm sentiment in universal themes of loss and resilience, experience and maturity.

"[104] Richard Corliss of Time magazine said Branagh's Cinderella successfully updates and revitalizes Disney's "ill-conceived" animated film, and praised the empowered Ella, the visuals, and Blanchett's performance.

[105] Katy Waldman of Slate similarly deemed the film a commendable and authentic upgrade that does not undermine its heroine while maintaining its classic splendor and charm.

[106] Joe Morgenstern of The Wall Street Journal commended James' and Blanchett's performances, the sets, costumes, and minimal digital effects, as well as Branagh's direction, stating he "set a tone of lushly sustainable fantasy that's often affecting, frequently witty, seldom cloying, nearly free of self-comment and entirely free of irony.

"[107] Likewise, Claudia Puig of USA Today complimented the performances along with Branagh and screenwriter Chris Weitz for "ground[ing] this romantic tale with sincerity amid the dazzle.

"[108] Betsy Sharkey of the Los Angeles Times praised Blanchett's and James' performances and described the film as a "poetically, if not prophetically, imagined storybook fable" that succeeds because of its earnestness, humor, its lack of modern-day pretenses, and Branagh's "singular focus".

Robert Barron wrote that, due to Branagh's traditional telling of the story, "he actually allows the spiritual – indeed specifically Christian – character of the tale to emerge.