One thing that has become almost synonymous with Disney is their animated interpretations of classic fairy tales. From Snow White to Cinderella, Disney has brought some of our favorite fairy tales to life on the big screen. In 2010, Disney released the animated film Tangled, which adapted the story of Rapunzel from the Brothers Grimm. The film starred Mandy Moore as the voice of Rapunzel and Zachary Levi as her love interest, Flynn Rider. Tangled received very positive reviews, and in 2020, it was reported that Disney was in the process of developing another Rapunzel film, this time, a live-action Tangled movie.
While Disney’s fairy tale adaptions were historically animated, they have begun to emphasize live-action remakes. So far we’ve had the live-action Beauty and the Beast and Maleficent. While not quite matching the animated classics, these films show that the magic of fairy tales can also be translated to live-action film. Plus, it allows us to see some of our favorite actresses and actors in the roles of their fairy tale look-alikes.
Currently, Disney has a live-action The Little Mermaid, Peter Pan, Snow White, and Pinocchio all in varying stages of development. Peter Pan and Wendy will release on Disney+, likely in late 2022 or in 2023. Pinocchio is set to release on Disney+ in September of 2022, while The Little Mermaid will release theatrically on May 26, 2023. Meanwhile, Snow White, set to star Rachel Zegler and Gal Gadot, is currently in the process of filming. While all of these updates are certainly exciting, it makes the lack of updates for Rapunzel quite puzzling.
Will there be a live-action Rapunzel film?
News that a live-action Rapunzel film was in development was first reported in early 2020 by The DisInsider. It was reported that this film would be a theatrical release, rather than a Disney+ release. Ashleigh Powell, who wrote The Nutcracker and the Four Realms, was tapped to write the live-action Rapunzel script. Michael De Luca and Kristen Burr were attached to the film as producers.
Will there be a live-action Tangled movie? At the time, no details of potential cast selections or a director were released. It has also not been confirmed if the live-action film is based on, or related to, Tangled in any way, or if it’s a wholly new story. Either way, the news quickly made rounds among Disney fans and sparked much excitement. Now, nearly 2 and a half years later, virtually no more news has been released on the live-action Rapunzel. Fans are still eager and have been musing about their dream casts for the film. Fans have been rooting for House of the Dragon Ser Criston Cole actor Fabien Frankel as Flynn Rider and have asked for actress Amanda Seyfried to take on the role of Rapunzel. Naturally, though, Disney’s silence on Rapunzel is starting to get concerning.
It must be noted that Disney has not officially released a statement confirming the live-action Rapunzel. While DisInsider does claim to release exclusive Disney news from Disney insiders, the site is not actually affiliated with Walt Disney. The fact that Disney hasn’t confirmed the film themselves and that there have been no updates for over two years is suspicious, to say the least. It could be that Rapunzel is just a film that fell on Disney’s backburner. Until Disney gives us confirmation, though, we can’t say for certain that we will actually get a live-action Rapunzel.
(featured image: Disney)
