Angelina Jolie as the title sorceress in "Maleficent" has been inexorably inching her evil self toward the big screen for over a year and a half, since Disney released the first photo of the star as Sleeping Beauty's nemesis in 2012. Now she's back and badder than ever in the latest TV promo for the film.
The Disney channel-created ad starts off innocently enough, hearkening back to Disney's animated "Sleeping Beauty" with a quick clip that segues into the live-action, updated version. But it doesn't take long before Maleficent's powers (and Jolie's hatchet-sharp cheekbones) take over the screen, with green smoke enveloping Beauty (aka Aurora) as a baby. (In an earlier trailer, Jolie's daughter with Brad Pitt, 5-year-old Vivienne, got a cameo role as a slightly older Aurora.)
Later on, Maleficent's stalking of the teen version of the heroine (played by Elle Fanning) continues and she warns her, "There is an evil in this world, and I cannot keep you from it."
Check out the full video; the film opens in theaters on May 30.