Colman Domingo and Robert O'Hara In Talks to Write Live-Action Adaptation of Classic Fairytale THE PRINCESS AND THE FROG
Academy Award and Emmy nominee Colman Domingo (Michael, The Four Seasons, Disclosure Day) is in talks to co-write an original live-action feature about Princess Tiana inspired by Disney‘s animated 2009 feature The Princess and the Frog.
The actor will write the script with 2020 Tony-nominated Slave Play director Robert O’Hara. The project is early days, and no official deal has been inked, but it’s in the works.
Princess and the Frog was the last hand-drawn animated feature from Disney, released in 2009 and directed by John Musker and Ron Clements. Set in New Orleans during the 1920s and based on E.D. Baker’s The Frog Princess, the pic follows a waitress, Tiana (Anika Noni Rose), who dreams of opening her own restaurant.
She’s set on turning a frog prince, Naveen, back into a human after he’s cursed by an evil voodoo witch doctor, Facilier. However, Tiana becomes a frog as well, and the couple must find a way to become human again.
Deadline reports that Domingo and O’Hara’s take is being billed as a spinoff of the animated feature rather than a full-on adaptation, a la Disney’s live-action Beauty and the Beast project that’s in the works, Gaston.
Princess and the Frog grossed $267 million at the worldwide box office when it was released and was nominated for three Oscars: Best Animated Feature and for two of Newman’s songs, “Almost There” and “Down in New Orleans.”
Other live-action adaptations of Disney animated pics in the works are Tangled, currently shooting under the direction of Michael Gracey with Kathryn Hahn, Diego Luna, Milo Manheim and Teagan Croft attached to star. There’s also Stepsisters, a Cinderella spinoff directed by Akiva Schaffer; Lilo & Stitch 2 from filmmaker Chris Sanders; and Impossible Creatures, based on the fantasy series by Katherine Rundell.
Stay tuned for updates on the project as it moves forward.