Disney Is Bringing Another Beloved Princess Story to Life in Live Action

Disney’s live-action strategy has taken plenty of hits lately, with ‘Moana’ stumbling out of the gate at the box office just last week and reigniting the usual debate over whether these remakes have finally run their course.

Rather than slowing down, though, the studio appears to be reaching for a different playbook entirely with its next target.

That target is Princess Tiana, the New Orleans waitress turned restaurant dreamer from 2009’s ‘The Princess and the Frog’, which holds the distinction of being the last hand-drawn animated feature Disney ever released theatrically. The film followed Tiana as she worked to reverse a curse placed on Prince Naveen by the voodoo witch doctor Doctor Facilier, only to end up turned into a frog herself in the process.

According to Deadline, which broke the story first, an original live-action film centered on Tiana is now in early development at Disney, with Colman Domingo in talks to co-write the project. Domingo, fresh off earning two Emmy nominations this year, is expected to pen the script alongside Tony-nominated ‘Slave Play’ director Robert O’Hara, though no deals have officially closed yet for either writer.

What separates this project from Disney’s usual live-action playbook is the format itself. Multiple outlets have confirmed the film is being developed as a spin-off rather than a direct remake, meaning it will expand on Tiana’s story with new, original material instead of retelling the 2009 film beat for beat the way ‘The Little Mermaid’ or ‘Beauty and the Beast’ did.

That approach puts the project in similar territory to Disney’s in-development ‘Gaston’ film, another live-action project built around expanding a beloved animated character’s world rather than simply reproducing the source material shot for shot. Given how divisive the studio’s straightforward remakes have become with audiences, leaning into original storytelling could be a deliberate attempt to sidestep that fatigue entirely.

Tiana’s story has already found new life outside the original film in recent years. Disney parks replaced the long-controversial Splash Mountain ride with Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, an attraction set after the events of the movie, while a planned animated Disney Plus series titled ‘Tiana’ was previously announced before ultimately being cancelled.

‘The Princess and the Frog’ pulled in $267 million at the worldwide box office during its original run and earned three Oscar nominations, including one for Best Animated Feature, along with two nominations for Randy Newman’s songs ‘Almost There’ and ‘Down in New Orleans’. Anika Noni Rose voiced Tiana in that original film, though it remains unclear whether she will have any involvement in this new live-action take.

With the project still in its earliest stages and deals yet to close for either writer, there is no timeline yet for when this new Tiana story might actually move into production. Given Domingo’s background as an accomplished playwright alongside his acting career, and O’Hara’s own strong theatrical pedigree, the pairing suggests Disney may be aiming for something with real dramatic weight rather than another straightforward crowd pleaser.

What do you think of Disney taking a spin-off approach instead of a direct remake for Tiana’s story, and who would you want to see in the cast. Let us know your thoughts in the comments.