The Sleeping Beauty spin-off Maleficent truly paved the way for modern live-action remakes of animated classics, and Disney hasn’t slowed down since. Despite the fluctuating success between each one — 2025’s Lilo & Stitch film grossed over $1 billion worldwide while 2026’s Moana grossed roughly $260 million worldwide — Disney has continued its push for live-action remakes, especially of its classic princess movies. Tangled is the most recent princess movie to get the live-action-adaptation treatment, and, to be honest, I’m unapologetically excited about it…assuming Disney does it right.
With 25 live-action remakes already under its belt, and two more with upcoming release dates, the studio clearly has no shortage of beloved, pre-existing stories to reimagine, but that doesn’t mean it’s immune to failed projects. As more and more films are announced, it can be hard to keep track of what’s still active and what’s fallen off, or fallen apart, especially when some projects haven’t been discussed in over a decade. When it comes to Disney, though, is anything ever really off the table?
Every Live-Action Disney Remake & Sequel Currently In Active Development
‘Tangled’
After leaked set pictures from earlier this year had the internet in a tizzy, it was perfect timing to have a full sneak peek of the upcoming live-action Tangled film shown at D23 in August. This film stars Australian actor Teagan Croft as the displaced princess Rapunzel, Disney Channel alum Milo Manheim as the charming thief Flynn Rider, and recent Marvel star Kathryn Hahn as the wickedly cunning fraud Mother Gothel.
In the short teaser, Croft and Manheim discuss how excited they are for fans to see the film, specifically emphasizing their shared excitement about shooting on location in Spain, which will help even more in bringing the story to life. Tangled is set to release on March 31, 2028.
‘Lilo & Stitch 2’
Like Tangled, the first teaser for Lilo & Stitch 2 made its debut at this year’s D23. In this teaser, Stitch can be seen waving to the audience before being interrupted by another experiment, Angel, who sneaks in and zaps him in some way, causing him to fall out of frame. Stitch then dramatically reaches up for help, and Angel pops her head into the frame as the film’s title card appears.
Though there is an animated film titled Lilo & Stitch 2, which follows the events of the original animated Lilo & Stitch, the live-action version will reportedly have a fully original story and will not be a retelling of the animated film. Lilo & Stitch 2 is set to release in summer 2028.
‘Stepsisters’
For many, a live-action spin-off of the animated Cinderella film that focuses on Cinderella’s “evil” stepsisters, Drizella and Anastasia, rather than Cinderella herself, may seem like a strange choice. But if you’re a true Disney fan, you would know that this isn’t the first time these sisters have taken center stage; Anastasia specifically, who was a primary character in both Cinderella II: Dreams Come True and Cinderella III: A Twist in Time.
Not much is known about the Stepsisters film at this time, other than the director being Akiva Schaffer, who most recently directed The Naked Gun, and the writers being Dan Gregor, who most recently co-wrote The Naked Gun, Doug Man, who also co-wrote The Naked Gun, and Michael Montemayor, who co-wrote the script for the live-action Tangled film. Stepsisters does not have a release date at this time.
Untitled Princess Tiana Film
After the cancellation of the previously announced Disney+ series, Tiana, in 2025, which was set to follow Princess Tiana after the events of The Princess and the Frog, fans were justifiably upset, myself included. Not only is The Princess and the Frog one of the best Disney princess movies altogether, it was also the first one, and remains the only one, to introduce an original Black princess, which makes it one of Disney’s most pivotal movies, and one that deserves more than the short stick it’s gotten in terms of on-screen representation.
Luckily, another film set in the world of The Princess and the Frog is reportedly in the works, and it’s rumored to be written by Colman Domingo and Robert O’Hara. At this time, the film remains in the exceptionally early stages of development, which means details surrounding it are few and far between — though it is expected to be live-action and will allegedly feature an original story, rather than retell the story from the animated Princess and the Frog film.
‘Cruella 2’
Cruella 2 is an interesting project because, while it’s been confirmed for years and allegedly has everyone from the original on board, including Emma Stone herself, it still hasn’t left its early stages of development. When speaking with Variety in 2024, Stone stated that she hopes filming for Cruella 2 will begin “sooner rather than later,” and that the script is a work in progress. Most recently, in an interview with The Playlist in June 2026, the director of the first Cruella film, and the planned director for the sequel, Craig Gillespie, stated that the film was “on his agenda.” Not much is known beyond that.
Every Live-Action Disney Remake & Sequel Currently In Limbo
‘Gaston’
In 2025, Deadline reported that a feature film focused on Gaston, the villain from the animated classic Beauty and the Beast, was in the works at Disney, with Dave Callaham writing the script and Michelle Rejwan producing. According to sources, the film will feature a new actor for Gaston and may tell his story in a way that’s a bit different from what we’ve seen before. No new information has been revealed as of late, and the film is not listed as “Upcoming” on the IMDb pages of Callaham or Rejwan.
‘Hercules’
Despite the recent virality of Meg’s voice actor, Susan Egan, stating that she’d love to see Zendaya and Tom Holland play a live-action version of Meg and Hercules, there is no official proof that a live-action Hercules film is actively in the works. In 2020, Deadlined confirmed that a live-action version of the film was happening, and that the Russo brothers, primarily known for their work in the MCU, would be producing, while Dave Callaham, mentioned previously for Gaston, would be writing the script. At this time, no further information has been released, and the film does not appear on any of the three’s IMDb pages.
‘Prince Charming’
Originally planned to be a comedic live-action film that told the story of the animated Prince Charming’s brother, who’s also technically referred to as Prince Charming, this film has taken quite a turn when it comes to development. In 2017, it was announced that Stephen Chbosky, most notably the author, screenwriter, and director of Perks of Being a Wallflower, would be writing and directing the film, which was titled Charming. Then, in 2024, it was announced that Paul King, director of Wonka, would be writing and directing a live-action Prince Charming film, now titled Prince Charming, and that Chris Hemsworth would be playing the titular role. As of now, this film remains on both of their IMDb pages.
’Genies’
Genies was announced as a live-action prequel to the animated film Aladdin in 2015 and was allegedly going to tell the story of what a genie’s life is like before they meet their human master, and what led to Aladdin’s genie being stuck in his lamp. As stated by The Hollywood Reporter, this film was set to be written by Damian Shannon and Mark Swift, two horror writers who most recently co-wrote Send Help, and produced by Tripp Vinson, who most recently produced Ready or Not 2: Here I Come. Genies has had no update in over 10 years, and the film doesn’t appear on anyone’s IMDb profile, though the film has not been publicly announced as canceled.
‘Hunchback’
In 2019, it was reported by Deadline that Disney was making a live-action version of The Hunchback of Notre Dame that would be written by David Henry Hwang and produced by Alan Menken and Josh Gad. It was then rumored that Gad would be playing the lead role of Quasimodo, though he quickly took to social media to deny the claim. He did, however, confirm that a script was written for the film, and that it was one of the best he had ever read. A few years later, in 2023, Menken stated in an exclusive interview with ComicBook.com that he had no idea if the Hunchback movie was still happening, and that it would be a hard movie to adapt given its mature themes. No other information is known at this time.
‘The Jungle Book 2’
As announced by The Hollywood Reporter, a sequel film for the live-action The Jungle Book was already in production before the first film had even been released. In The Hollywood Reporter’s statement, it was confirmed that Jon Favreau would be returning to direct and produce, along with Justin Marks returning to write. In an interview with Gulf News, The Jungle Book‘s star Neel Sethi, who played Mowgli in the film, confirmed that he would be returning for the sequel, and that filming would be starting as soon as Favreau was done with his current project, which, at the time, was 2019’s The Lion King. No updates have been released since, though the film is still listed on the IMDb pages of those involved.
‘Rose Red’
The live-action Disney film you’ve likely never heard of, Rose Red was originally confirmed in 2016 via Variety and was reported to tell the story of Rose Red, a character present in the Grimms’ Fairy Tales from the 1800s, who is being reimagined as Snow White’s estranged sister, and the one who helps the dwarves awaken her from her slumber. An unknown writer named Justin Merz originally brought forward a script for the film, which was then rewritten by Evan Daugherty, co-writer of Snow White and the Huntsman and The Huntsman: Winter’s War. Tripp Vinson, along with many others, was listed as a producer of the film, but the credit doesn’t appear on anyone’s IMDb anymore, and the film has not been mentioned in a decade.
‘The Sword in the Stone’
A live-action adaptation of the classic film The Sword in the Stone allegedly went into production in 2015, as announced by The Hollywood Reporter, but has since fallen flat. The film was originally slated to be written by Bryan Cogman, a writer for Game of Thrones, produced by Brigham Taylor, who’s produced a variety of Disney films, and directed by Juan Carlos Fresnadillo, who’s best known for directing 28 Weeks Later and Damsel. Unfortunately, when speaking with Screen Rant in 2024, Fresnadillo gave the update that the film was completely inactive, at least on his end, and that its fate was unknown. Since then, there’s been no update.
‘The Aristocats’
In 2022, Deadline reported that a live-action adaptation of Disney’s 1970 film The Aristocats was in production. At the time of the announcement, Will Gluck, director and co-writer of Anyone But You and the two live-action Peter Rabbit films, and Keith Bunin, co-writer of Pixar’s Onward, were set to pen the script, and Gluck was set to produce. A year later, it was announced that Oscar winner and drummer of the Roots, Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson, would be joining the project as director and executive music producer, which excited many fans like myself. Unfortunately for us, it was announced by Questlove in 2025 that he was no longer involved in the film, and that it was likely scrapped by Disney. There’s always a chance this project could come around again with a new director, but things are quiet for now.
Though the fate of some of these projects is more secure than others, with Disney, there’s always a chance they could be made eventually. Of all the entries on this list, which one are you, or would you be, most excited to see?
- Release Date
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March 31, 2028
- Director
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Michael Gracey
- Writers
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Jennifer Kaytin Robinson, Michael Montemayor
