Disney's Live-Action Princess & The Frog Movie Status Officially Revealed By Writer
Jeff Dodge (he/him), a published author and graduate of Western Washington University, has been a TV news editor for many years and has had the chance to interview multiple reality show stars, including Randy Jackson, Nick Cannon, Heidi Klum, Mel B and John Cena. Fun Fact: he’s been to every single Idol Live! Tour.
The writer behind the upcoming live-action The Princess and the Frog film just revealed a brand-new update about the pre-production process, including whether anyone has been cast as Tiana yet.
The Princess and the Frog is a 2D hand-drawn animated movie that centers on Tiana, a waitress with big dreams, but her life gets turned upside down when she's transformed into a frog. Continuing the trend of Disney's live-action remakes, it was recently reported that Colman Domingo and Robert O’Hara would do the same with The Princess and the Frog.
Now Domingo is revealing a major new update. While speaking with ET on the Emmys red carpet, the actor confirmed that he is indeed co-writing the script for the live-action Princess and the Frog movie.
"There's no talks anymore. It's happening," he said. As far as the casting is concerned, he admitted that "everyone has been slipping in their casting" in his DMs.
When ET's Nischelle Turner suggested that Anika Noni Rose, who voiced Tiana in the animated film, should reprise the role, Domingo replied, "Wouldn't that be nice if we had Anika?"
Despite all the speculation, though, Disney has not decided who will step into the role of Tiana, with the actor adding, "Just know we're not there yet."
However, Domingo did tease that when it comes to writing the script, the "main ingredient" is to "make sure we get to the heart of it because I feel like that's the way these stories will last and will be everlasting, is we find the most complicated family with this Black family."
He also hopes the live-action Princess and the Frog film leans into the "mystical sense of the nature of the world as well as, of New Orleans." At the end of the day, he really wants to use this opportunity to honor Princess Tiana's story, especially since she is Disney's first Black princess.
"There's no talks anymore. It's happening. I'm co-writing The Princess and the Frog live animated film with my friend and dear comrade Robert O'Hara. We're doing it together for Disney. Yeah. So, yes, it's going to be something.
"What do we need? Well, of course, wouldn't that be nice if we had Anika? That would be very nice. Everyone has been slipping in their casting. Check my DMs. Everybody's in there showing me that. Listen, I've watched a lot of them. Just know we're not there yet.
"But what I would like to say is I think the main ingredient we need is to make sure we get to the heart of it because I feel like that's the way these stories will last and will be everlasting is we find the most complicated family with this black family. And also this mystical sense of the nature of the world as well, of New Orleans. We want to get that and really honor Princess Tiana's story."
Rose's co-stars in the original Princess and the Frog are Bruno Campos, Keith David, Michael-Leon Wooley, Jennifer Cody, Jim Cummings, Peter Bartlett, Jenifer Lewis, Oprah Winfrey, Terrence Howard and John Goodman.
The movie grossed $267 million and is Certified Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes with a critic score of 86% and an audience score of 74%. It was nominated for multiple awards at the Oscars (including Best Animated Feature), Golden Globes and Critics' Choice Awards.
Even though Disney had expected it to perform better at the box office, The Princess and the Frog became a beloved and underrated film in the Mickey Mouse company's filmography.
Now, 17 years later, The Princess and the Frog is getting the live-action treatment. However, it won't be a direct remake in the same way that others like Lilo & Stitch and Moana were. Rather, Domingo and O’Hara are creating a spinoff story centered around Princess Tiana.
As Domingo revealed during his interview with ET, the role of Tiana has not been cast yet, but at least he was able to confirm that he's now signed the contract to co-write the live-action The Princess and the Frog.
- Release Date
- December 8, 2009
- Runtime
- 98 minutes
- Director
- John Musker, Ron Clements
- Writers
- Rob Edwards, John Musker, Ron Clements, Don Hall, Greg Erb, Jason Oremland
- Producers
- Peter Del Vecho
-
Anika Noni Rose
Tiana (voice)
-
Bruno Campos
Prince Naveen (voice)
KioskNews shows a cleaned-up reading view extracted from the publisher’s page — the original always lives on their site, not ours.