"I, Tonya" director Craig Gillespie is in talks to direct Emma Stone as evil, puppy-killing villainess Cruella de Vil.

According to Deadline, Alex Timbers, the acclaimed Broadway director-writer and co-creator of Amazon’s "Mozart in the Jungle," was going to direct, but Disney wants to move up the production date.

With Timber tied up bringing "Beetlejuice" to Broadway, that means he has no time for the "101 Dalmatians" villainess.

Gillespie has been working on a remake of the Norwegian thriller "Thelma," but would reportedly be available for this.

And he's very much in demand after directing Allison Janney to a Best Supporting Actress Oscar in "I, Tonya," which also netted a Best Actress nomination for Margot Robbie as infamous skater Tonya Harding.

Actually, now that we're thinking about it, Janney would make a better Cruella than Emma Stone. But, of course Stone's still a bigger box-office draw.

Glenn Close played the over-the-top villainess in two live-action '90s Disney films. The original animated character was voiced by Betty Lou Gerson, who was also the narrator of Disney's "Cinderella" (1950).

[Via Deadline]