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Los Angeles - Production has begun on the sequel to smash hit Maleficent, Disney announced on Tuesday, with Elle Fanning and Angelina Jolie reprising their roles as Sleeping Beauty and her conflicted surrogate mother.
The movie is being filmed at Pinewood Studios, near London and in locations around Britain, the world's largest movie studio said in a statement.
"It's bring your mom to work day on the Maleficent 2 set," 20-year-old Fanning (Trumbo, The Beguiled) joked in an Instagram post that had been liked a quarter of a million times within an hour.
Alongside the message, she posted a picture of herself in front of a laughing Jolie, who was in the famous Maleficent horns, as well as a pair of sunglasses and a towelling bathrobe.
SEE THE SNAP HERE:
Maleficent, a modern retelling of the life of Sleeping Beauty's arch-nemesis, cast an instant spell on audiences in 2014, debuting at the top of the North American box office and going on to gross more than $750m worldwide.
Joining Fanning and Jolie for the latest adventure are Oscar nominees Michelle Pfeiffer (Dangerous Liaisons, Ant-Man and the Wasp) and Chiwetel Ejiofor (12 Years a Slave, Doctor Strange).
Disney also confirmed that acclaimed British stage and screen actor Robert Lindsay (Wimbledon) would be among the newcomers, while Sam Riley, Imelda Staunton, Juno Temple and Lesley Manville return from the original movie.
In the sequel, directed by Joachim Ronning (Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales), Disney's most notorious villain continues to explore her complex relationship with Princess Aurora, the soon to be queen, as they form alliances against new adversaries.
Fan reactions on social media were mostly positive, with much of the excitement being generated over the addition of screen legend Pfeiffer, 60, to the cast.
A release date for the film has yet to be announced.
