EMMA STONE is in early negotiations to portray the iconic Disney villainess Cruella de Vil in the film “Cruella,” according to The Hollywood Reporter.

    The project, Disney’s live-action re-imagining of the “101 Dalmatians” character, has no director but it is a priority for the studio, which is hoping to shoot the film later this year.

    Kelly Marcel is writing the script, which is intended to be an origin story of the character. Aline Brosh McKenna worked on an early version of the script.

    De Vil is the villain who was obsessed with capturing the dalmatians in the 1961 animated classic, intent on having their hides. Glenn Close played her in the 1996 live-action film produced by John Hughes that makes the character the head of a fashion house.

    Stone last appeared in “Aloha” and next stars in Damien Chazelle’s “La La Land,” in which she reteams with Ryan Gosling.(SD-Agencies)