Disney’s next live-action adaptation has found its lead stars. The studio has cast Teagan Croft (Titans) and Milo Manheim (Thanksgiving) as Rapunzel and Flynn Rider in the upcoming Tangled film.
Tangled was originally released in 2010 and revitalized Disney’s animated features focusing on fairy tale princesses. The film re-told the story of Rapunzel, a princess with long magical hair who remained locked in a tower for her whole life but manages to one day escape. In the re-telling, the princess kidnapped as a baby and raised by her ‘mother’ Gothel in a hidden tower where Rapunzel’s magic hair kept Gothel young. After meeting the mischievous thief Flynn Rider, she forces him to take her to the kingdom to see the floating lights that come in the sky every birthday, leading her to uncover her secret past and take her life in her own hands.
The film was directed by Nathan Greno and Byron Howard and featured Mandy Moore as Rapunzel and Zachary Levi as Flynn. It was a huge hit primarily for its music as Disney legend Alan Menken and lyricist Glenn Slater composed the fan-favourite songs. Rapunzel’s story continued in the short Tangled Ever After and the animated series Rapunzel’s Tangled Adventures with Moore and Levi reprising their roles.
The live-action Tangled will be directed by Michael Gracey (The Greatest Showman) from a script by Jennifer Kaytin Robinson (Do Revenge). Scarlett Johannson was previously reported to play Mother Gothel, but has had to recently drop the role. This comes after gaining an undisclosed role in Matt Reeves’The Batman Part II, which will begin filming in the spring so it sounds like a scheduling conflict as she likely had to choose one or the other.
Croft is most known for playing Raven in the DC series Titans while Manheim has starred in Disney Channel’s Zombies films.
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