And at last, we see the light! The green production light because a new Disney live-action is on its way. Tangled joins Snow White and The Little Mermaid as the newest Disney Princess live-action movie.
The Disney animated film came out in 2010 to rave reviews. It follows the story of Rapunzel (Mandy Moore) who gets kidnapped by Mother Gothel (Donna Murphy) after her hair possesses healing abilities to keep her young. The Kingdom of Corona tries its best to search for the missing princess by lighting lanterns every year on her birthday. The outlaw Flynn Rider (Zachary Levi) sneaks into her tower and the two escape the confines of her tower. What happens next is a story of adventure, true love, and happily ever after.
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Deadline reported that a live-action Tangled is in production. Michael Gracey, who directed The Greatest Showman, is in talks to direct the feature. Jennifer Kaytin Robinson penned the most recent draft of the script. Kristin Burr will produce for Burr! Productions along with Emmy-winning producer Lucy Kitada.
Disney paused the production for the live action film in April 2025 after negative reviews of Snow White, but it seems like there’s hope in the early stages as of October, per Deadline.
There hasn’t been any official casting news, but here’s who we think should be Rapunzel, Flynn Rider, and the rest of the crew.
Sabrina Carpenter seems to be the most popular choice for Rapunzel. Even her voice actress agrees! “I could see her with 50 feet of hair or something,” Moore says in a promo for TJ MAXX’s Claim Your AND campaign. “She looks like a Disney princess in real life.”
A fan favorite for Rapunzel is Meg Donnelly. She’s another Disney darling and obviously has the pipes to play the blonde princess.
Avantika made headlines in April 2024 when an unconfirmed report stated that she would star in a live-action Tangled movie. Though no plans of a live-action were announced at the time, many netizens took online to make racist comments against the actress. “Unpopular opinion rapunzel is a blonde white girl,” one TikToker posted, writing in the caption: “sorry but a brown girl with long black hair is NOT rapunzel.”
Disney isn’t a stranger to casting actresses of other races to play princesses who were white in the animated versions. Halle Bailey starred as Ariel in the live-action The Little Mermaid, and Rachel Zegler is set to star as Snow White in the newest live-action version. Casting Avantika would be a beautiful casting choice and she already made a mark in pop culture when she starred as Karen in Mean Girls.
Milo Manheim is arguably the most popular choice for Flynn in the new live-action version…and honestly, we can see it.
According to Deadline, Scarlett Johansson is circling the role of Mother Gothel. It only makes sense and the Black Widow star does have the singing chops for “Mother Knows Best.”
A pop icon with curly hair? Cher would make a perfect Mother Gothel as she keeps Rapunzel in her tower and tracks her down after her escape.
Mandy Moore expressed excitement to be in a live-action version of Tangled. “Maybe I could be Rapunzel’s mom,” she says. “Let’s have a real mother-daughter duet, and have someone write an original song so we can talk about our differences and how hard it is to be a young person in this world.”
Zachary Levi also expressed excitement in appearing in the movie as King Frederic. “I think it would be fun if Mandy and I got to be Rapunzel’s parents,” Levi shared to Entertainment Tonight. “I think that would be a really fun little cameo for us to pop in to.”
They used to be in Flynn’s alliance but ended it all to work for Mother Gothel. The Hemsworths seem like they’re perfect for the sibling-led role.
