Back in April, Disney “put on pause” what was supposed to be its next live-action remake, “Tangled,” as the studio grappled with the disastrous fallout from its ‘Snow White’ remake.
A few months later came the surprising news that “Tangled” was back in development — and being fast-tracked. However, this month’s “Moana,” which bombed at the box office despite its $250 million budget, was yet another sign that the live-action remake formula may be wearing thin.
That said, if we thought the time had come for the Mouse House to hit the pause button on its onslaught of live-action remakes, the exact opposite appears to be happening.
Here comes news that Colman Domingo has been tasked with co-writing a live-action take on Disney’s animated 2009 feature, “The Princess and the Frog,” or “Tiana,” as Disney wants us to call it because they don’t want to admit it’s actually just a live-action redo of the animated film.
Domingo will co-write the film with 2020 Tony-nominated “Slave Play” director Robert O’Hara.
“The Princess and the Frog” was Disney’s last hand-drawn animated feature, released in 2009 and directed by John Musker and Ron Clements. It was a fresh take on the princess movie, set in 1920s New Orleans and following a waitress, Tiana (Anika Noni Rose), who is dead set on turning a frog prince, Naveen, back into a human after he’s cursed by an evil voodoo witch doctor. However, Tiana also becomes a frog herself, and the couple must find a way to become human again.
Disney also has a live-action “Tangled,” directed by Michael Gracey, with Kathryn Hahn, Diego Luna, Milo Manheim, and Teagan Croft attached to star. There’s also “Stepsisters,” a Cinderella spinoff directed by Akiva Schaffer, and “Lilo & Stitch 2” from filmmaker Chris Sanders.
Not even two bombs in a row will stop the Mouse House from rehashing its animated classics into human form.
I’m reminded of a hilarious, now-deleted tweet from actress and writer Zoe Kazan in which she took aim at the recent wave of Disney live-action remakes.
Woke up in the middle of the night thinking “D*sney has no reason to make ‘good’ live action remakes because that would render their earlier ‘product’ obsolete. It’s smarter for them to make new movies that are different but not better than the old ones.