Bonham Carter to play Cinderella's fairy godmother

Helena Bonham Carter has nabbed the role of the fairy godmother in the forthcoming live-action version of 'Cinderella'.

Helmed by Sir Kenneth Branagh, the fairy tale reboot is already assembling a star-studded cast.

Bonham Carter will be joined by Cate Blanchett playing Cinderella's wicked stepmother and 'Game of Thrones' star Richard Madden as the prince.

[Downton Star to play Cinderella]

The lead role will be played by 'Downton Abbey's Lily James.

The script has been written by Aline Brosh McKenna, who penned '27 Dresses' and 'The Devil Wears Prada', and Chris Weitz.

The film, due to start filming in London in the Autumn and set for a 2014 release, is the latest in a rash of fairytale updates emanating from Hollywood.

Among those already making it to the multiplex have been 'Jack The Giant Slayer', Bryan Singer's financially catastrophic take on 'Jack and the Beanstalk' and 'Mirror Mirror', with Lily Collins playing Snow White, which went head-to-head with rival production 'Snow White and the Huntsman', starring Kristen Stewart, Chris Hemsworth and Charlize Theron.

Then there was the violent reboot of 'Hansel and Gretel', 'Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters' with Jeremy Renner and Gemma Arterton.

Meanwhile, forthcoming is 'Maleficent', the revisionist version of Disney's 'Sleeping Beauty' with Angelina Jolie, Joe 'Atonement' Wright's take on 'The Little Mermaid', and Guillermo Del Toro's long-planned dark version of 'Pinocchio'.