Disney is going back to the well of live-action remakes and is looking to “The Greatest Showman” and “Better Man” director Michael Gracey to bring its 2010 animated film “Tangled” to life in live-action.
Though rumored and fan-casted for several years now, a “Tangled” live-action film is now officially in development at Disney, and Gracey is in negotiations to direct the feature, an individual with knowledge of the project told IndieWire.
Jennifer Kaytin Robinson (“Thor: Love and Thunder,” “Do Revenge”) wrote the most recent draft of the script, and Kristin Burr and Lucy Kitada are producing for their Burr! Productions banner.
No cast has been set just yet, and the plot details are being kept under wraps. But the 2010 “Tangled” was a re-imagining of the classic Rapunzel fairy tale in which a thief, Flynn Rider, stumbles upon her in a castle and introduces her to the wide world. Mandy Moore and Zachary Levi played the voice roles in the film.
“Tangled” was Disney Animation Studios’ 50th feature and brought in $591 million at the global box office. It was also nominated for an Oscar for the original song “I See the Light” from Alan Menken and Glenn Slater.
Former film chief at Disney Sean Bailey had been leading the charge on many of Disney’s live-action remakes, but with former Searchlight chief Matthew Greenbaum in charge now, it’s perhaps a bit surprising to see Disney so quickly return to established IP. Disney upcoming on its live-action feature slate has Barry Jenkins’ “Mufasa: The Lion King” arriving later this month, “Snow White” coming early next year with Rachel Zegler and Gal Gadot, and the live-action “Lilo & Stitch” coming in May. Disney is also in the works on a live-action “Moana” film.
For Gracey, “Tangled” will be just his third feature after “The Greatest Showman” and this year’s “Better Man,” which is a musical biopic of pop star Robbie Williams that features Williams as a CGI chimp. He’s also teaming with Paramount again on an adaptation of the children’s book “Nevermore” and is doing a stage musical in the West End based on the life of Luciano Pavarotti.
Next up for Robinson is the script for the “I Know What You Did Last Summer” reboot for Sony.
Deadline first reported the news.
