Tangled is next in line to get the live-action treatment at Disney, which makes sense considering 2016’s Moana has been remade already
Sorry, but those Disney live-action remakes continue to print money and the company is in full sequel/nostalgia mode to create ‘value’ for shareholders after recent wins like Deadpool & Wolverine and Moana 2. Now, Tangled is next in line to get the real-life treatment.
This announcement might come as a shock to those who have been out of the loop, as Tangled isn’t too old, but considering the Moana (2016) live-action remake has already been shot and is set to release on July 10, 2026, Disney says it’s fair game.
Deadline broke the news, adding that Michael Gracey (The Greatest Showman) has entered negotiations to direct the project. The filmmaker is currently getting a fair amount of attention thanks to his work on Better Man, the Robbie Williams biopic in which the singer is… a chimp. That movie has been reviewing surprisingly well ahead of its Christmas arrival, so it comes as no surprise that Disney wants to work with him after two wins in a row on a live-action project that would largely be a musical.
It’s been reported that “the film is expected to follow along the lines of the animated version” and that Thor: Love & Thunder’s Jennifer Kaytin Robinson has penned the most recent draft of the script. She recently turned in work on the I Know What You Did Last Summer requel too. The project is still in the early stages, so casting news might not arrive for a while.
Despite earning nearly $600 million at the global box office and spawning a short and a pretty successful TV series, Tangled never received a theatrical sequel, so a significant expansion of the IP was overdue. It was also responsible for ‘relaunching’ interest in Walt Disney Animation Studios after a rough patch, pushing the studio into the realm of 3D animation and directly leading into the gargantuan hit that was Frozen in 2013.
Disgraced actor Zachary Levi, who voiced co-lead Flynn in the original, has pitched Timothée Chalamet in the past to play his role. Looking at how sought-after the young actor currently is, I definitely wouldn’t rule that possibility out. As for the long-haired Rapunzel, originally played by Mandy Moore, Florence Pugh has been a recurring fan cast for quite some time and is already inside the Disney family, so that’s another name to keep an eye on. That said, Walt Disney Studios might opt for actors in their early 20s, especially considering this may take a while to go into production.
Up next from Disney’s live-action remake efforts, we have Snow White and Lilo & Stitch, dropping on March 21 and May 23, 2025, respectively.