Sarah Slater
Filming on the much anticipated sequel to the Disney hit Enchanted is to begin on Monday.
Disenchanted, the live-action/animated musical romantic comedy is the follow-up to the 2007 fantasy film which will see Amy Adams and Patrick Dempsey return to reprise their roles.
Scenes for the film are planned in several Irish locations including Dundalk, Dublin city centre, Greystones and Enniskerry, which will be closed off for 11 days in June. The RDS also underwent a huge make-over for the filming of indoor scenes.
Filming is to take place over four months - from May to August according to production sources.
It is a massive budget production, with Disney betting big on the follow-up 14 years after the original which starred Adams as Giselle, an animated woman set to marry Prince Edward, who finds herself trapped in the real world, with the film switching from animation to live-action.
She meets the dashing divorce lawyer, Robert played by Dempsey, and soon finds out that living in the real world with all of its real problems is not really all that bad and that true love can find you when you least expect it.
Adams has already been in the country several weeks according to production sources, while Dempsey made his arrival known last week by posting photos to his official Instagram page.
James Marsden plays Prince Edward while Maya Rudolph, Yvette Nicole Brown and Jayma Mays are also among the cast.
International filmmakers Walt Disney Studios sent out three major casting calls for Irish talent, announcing its title earlier this year.
A casting call from the Studios in Dublin was made last month, requesting "technically trained dancers" for roles in the sequel. It is understood hundreds of extras will be involved, with production staff being inundated with applications.
The casting is being managed by well-known Irish movie-theatre choreographer and set director Belinda Murphy.
The sequel has been a long time coming, having been in development since 2010.
Disenchanted will pick up 10 years after Giselle's happily ever after, when Adams' character questions her happiness, inadvertently turning the lives of those in the real world and the animated kingdom of Andalasia upside down in the process.
Meanwhile, Covid-19 testing is continuing daily on cast and crew members in the RDS. It is understood that €10 million alone has been set aside for virus testing.
