Emma Stone is in talks to play the Disney villain Cruella de Vil in an origins story about the hound-hating star of the 101 Dalmatians movies, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

The live-action film, currently titled Cruella, could go into production as early as the latter half of 2016. It is based on a screenplay by British screenwriter Kelly Marcel, best known for her work on Saving Mr Banks and Fifty Shades of Grey, but does not yet have a director on board.

In the 1961 animated film version of 101 Dalmatians, De Vil was voiced by Betty Lou Gerson. Glenn Close later took on the role for the 1996 live-action remake and its poorly received 2000 sequel 102 Dalmatians.

In each version, De Vil is obsessed with capturing the hides of her canine targets in order to make herself a fur coat. In the live iterations she was transformed from a wealthy woman with a passion for doggie fashion to the head of a garment design house.

Disney first found success adapting its animated back catalogue to live action with Tim Burton’s $1bn (£686m) Alice in Wonderland in 2010. Its origins tale Maleficent, starring Angelina Jolie, was also financially successful in 2014 but was not critically well received. The prequel told the story of the villain from the 1959 Disney animated classic Sleeping Beauty.

The Mouse House also scored a $500m box office success with live-action remake Cinderella earlier this year, and has new takes on Tinker Bell, Mulan, Pinocchio and Beauty and the Beast (with Emma Watson as Belle) on its upcoming slate.

Stone recently starred in controversial Cameron Crowe comedy Aloha, and has a lead role in Damien Chazelle’s upcoming La La Land – pitched as the Whiplash director’s love letter to the Los Angeles dream factory – opposite Ryan Gosling.