For almost 100 years, Disney has produced countless animated classics that are still played in homes worldwide. What better way to capitalize on that nostalgia than to remake those Disney classics in live-action for modern audiences?
Since 1994's live-action Jungle Book, Disney has made 23 live-action remakes of its classic animated movies. The most recent one is 2025's Snow White, starring Rachel Zegler (Snow White) and Gal Gadot (Evil Queen). While many live-action remakes are still under development, including the soon-to-be-released Lilo & Stitch and Moana, it seems Disney is starting to roll back its live-action release plans.
According to studio insiders (per The Hollywood Reporter), Disney pushed the pause button on a live-action remake of the 2010 animated Disney movie Tangled.
The project was previously in active development, and it had Michael Gracey (The Greatest Showman) in line to direct with a script penned by Jennifer Kaytin Robinson (Thor: Love and Thunder).
This comes shortly after the release of Disney's live-action Snow White movie, which hit theaters on March 21.
While IMDb took action against review-bombing for the Snow White remake, it underwhelmed in theaters upon its debut. As of writing, it has only grossed $145 million at the global box office ($69 million domestic) on a $270 million budget and holds a 40% Tomatometer rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
The film was by controversy surrounding both Snow White star Rachel Zegler and Evil Queen actress Gal Gadot, which even led to a minimalized press tour ahead of its release.
However, Disney has not completely ditched its live-action remake plans. Production on Lilo & Stitch and filming on Moana live-action remakes are complete. Additionally, live-action remakes of Hercules, The Aristocats, and Bambi are still seemingly in development.
Could A Tangled Live-Action Remake Still Happen?
When Tangled was released in 2010 (starring Mandy Moore and Zachary Levi), it became a major hit for Disney. To this day, it still sits with an 89% Tomatometer rating and an 87% Popocornmeter on Rotten Tomatoes, and it grossed nearly $600 million at the box office.
Considering how popular it still is 15 years later, Tangled would seemingly be a natural choice for Disney to turn into a live-action movie. This is particularly the case after the success of other live-action Disney hits like Aladdin and The Little Mermaid, both of which performed well with fans and critics.
Tangled has also already taken its place in current pop culture, with fans diving deep into discussions on rumors about who could be cast in a potential live-action Tangled film. Those rumors included names like MCU stars Florence Pugh and Kathryn Hahn for Rapunzel and Mother Gothel.
For the time being, Disney is clearly taking a step back and reevaluating its process after Snow White turned out to be an unfortunate flop.
The studio could certainly revisit plans for a Tangled reboot later, considering how long movies like this take to develop. Unfortunately, Snow White will force Disney to focus all its efforts on ensuring a movie like this is done right so that fans get the best experience possible.
