As SciFi Mafia reported last month, Tim Burton is no longer attached to direct Disney’s fairy tale feature Maleficent, centering on the evil queen of Sleeping Beauty. Walt Disney Pictures courted Darren Aronofsky (Black Swan, The Fountain) for a while, but now it looks like Maleficent has caught the eye of another high-profile director.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, Oscar winner David O. Russell (The Fighter, Three Kings) may be taking on the job. Word is that Russell recently met with Angelina Jolie, who is tentatively attached to star in the title role. The two have met in discuss Russell’s Silver Linings Playbook.

Russell had recently left Uncharted, a project to adapt the popular video game to a live-action movie, due to creative differences with Sony. Here’s what he had to say about the split:

“What can I say, I waded into those waters of the tentpole movies, and I wrote what I wanted to write, and I feel like I wrote my vision. And the rest is up to those guys. I can’t pick for those guys. I don’t know what they want to do over there. It’s just a parting of the ways creatively.”

What do you think? Would you like to see David O. Russell direct Maleficent?