Fans of Disney’s 2010 “Tangled” film have been waiting for news about the live-action remake for quite some time. They finally received some relief earlier this month when updates about the film were released.
Although Disney has had some ups and downs with audience reception of its live-action remakes of classic animated films, it was announced in late 2024 that a live-action “Tangled” was in development. With this announcement came news of the movie’s writer, Jennifer Kaytin Robinson (known for “Thor: Love and Thunder,” Netflix’s “Do Revenge” and the most recent “I Know What You Did Last Summer” film) and director, Michael Gracey (known for “The Greatest Showman”).
All information about the upcoming film died down after that initial announcement, and production even paused in April of 2025, reportedly due to the lack of success that their live-action “Snow White” release faced a month earlier. Production picked up again after the very successful release of the live-action “Lilo & Stitch,” which became the first movie of 2025 to earn $1 billion when it came out in May.
Updates died down again after that, which led fans to speculate over – and even “fan-cast” – the potential leads of the film. Some of the alleged auditioners for Rapunzel were Freya Skye (“Zombies 4: Dawn of the Vampires”), Sarah Catherine Hook (“First Kill,” “Cruel Intentions”) and even Gigi Hadid. A few fans were also rooting for McKenna Grace (“Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire,” “Regretting You”), Sadie Sink (“Stranger Things”) and Sabrina Carpenter.
For love interest Flynn Rider, some of the actors who fans wanted were Charlie Gillespie (“Julie and the Phantoms”), Taylor Zakhar Perez (“The Kissing Booth 2,” “Red, White & Royal Blue”) and Avan Jogia (“Victorious”).
All fan theories about the stars of the film were silenced on January 7, when the official leads were announced. Teagan Croft, the Australian rising star most known for the TV series “Titans,” will be starring as Rapunzel alongside Milo Manheim, most known for the “Zombies” franchise as well as “Journey to Bethlehem” and “Thanksgiving,” who will star as Flynn.
While this news satisfied eager fans, theories about who will play Mother Gothel – Rapunzel’s overbearing mother – are still alive and well. For a while, the alleged frontrunner for the character was big-name Scarlett Johansson, though she reportedly backed out of the production in December 2025 due to scheduling conflicts. Since that announcement, there has been talk that the new frontrunner is a different Marvel actress, Kathryn Hahn. Though this has not been confirmed, many fans are in favor of this potential casting decision.
No official release date has been set for this highly anticipated film, but audiences can potentially look out for a 2027 theatrical run.
Junior Emily Myers is a Copy Editor. Her email is emyers3@fandm.edu.
