Disney has revived the Tangled live-action remake, after hitting the brakes in April. Currently in the early stages of development, Scarlett Johansson is reportedly in talks to play the villainous Mother Gothel, a role originated by Donna Murphy in the 2010 animated feature (via Deadline).
While it's unknown who's in the running to play leads Rapunzel and Flynn Rider, fans have named Sabrina Carpenter and Taylor Zakhar Perez as their dream castings, after Gigi Hadid and Corey Mylchreest admitted to screen-testing for the project.
Michael Gracey, the award-winning filmmaker behind The Greatest Showman (2017) and Better Man (2024), is attached to direct.
According to Deadline, Disney has finally greenlit Tangled after some hesitation. Following the disappointing release of Snow White in March, which was declared a box office bomb, the entertainment conglomerate pressed pause on the project in the spring.
When the Lilo & Stitch remake grossed $341.7 million worldwide on its opening weekend in May, however, it appeared that fans were still interested in Disney's live-action reboots, with a generational pattern emerging.
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Considering that remakes of Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King all made over $1 billion, as opposed to Snow White (1937), which grossed $205 million, and Dumbo (1941), which made $353 million, it seems that cinema-goers are more interested in remakes of '90s Disney movies, which still hold cultural relevance.
Of course, Lilo & Stitch is a little bit newer, having first premiered in 2002, but a similar generation likely regards it as one of their Disney favourites, and would be more inclined to see the remake, due to their fondness for the original.
In the US, the audience statistics support this trend, with 79% of the audience under-35 (via Deadline).
Given that Tangled is only 15 years old, a reimagining has the potential to perform well, both critically and commercially, with Gen-Z and Millennial viewers, which is what Disney will be hoping for.
While details surrounding the project are limited, Jennifer Kaytin Robinson, whose credits include Thor: Love and Thunder (2022) and I Know What You Did Last Summer (2025), has penned the script.
Disney's Tangled remake is yet to receive an official release date.
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