According to the Hollywood Reporter, Disney has brought on Alice in Wonderland writer Linda Woolverton to write Malificent, a planned live action film based on the evil queen from the 1959 animated classic Sleeping Beauty.

Tim Burton supposedly is interested in the project though no deal is in place.  Certainly the hiring of Woolverton can be viewed as a major step in securing his involvement. It isn’t clear what direction Disney plans for the film’s story, though Burton certainly knows his way around dark and edgy tales.  Woolverton previously wrote the 1991 Beauty and the Beast as well as 1994’s The Lion King.