Disney's Live-Action Tangled Just Hit A Major Setback, And It Sounds Like The New Snow White Might Have Played A Role

Side-by-side images of Rapunzel in Tangled and Rachel Zegler's Snow White

(Image credit: Disney)

Disney’s live-action remakes/re-imaginings have been a key staple of the Mouse House’s cinematic output for more than a decade, and that’s not ending anytime soon. Following the release of Snow White a few weeks ago, Lilo & Stitch is arriving on the 2025 movies schedule next month, and Moana is slated for July 2026. While that’s just the tip of the iceberg of what’s in development on this Disney front, we can no longer count Tangled among that lineup. This particular remake has been paused, and it sounds like Snow White might have factored into this decision.

This updates comes to us from THR, which has heard from insiders that the live-action version of Tangled, which was announced last December, is no longer in active development. The Greatest Showman’s Michael Gracey had been tapped to direct, and Thor: Love and Thunder’s Jennifer Kaytin Robinson was writing the script. The article notes that it’s unclear if Tangled will move forward in its current form at some point in the future or “undergo a creative rethink.” Either way, it’s worth clarifying that the project has not been permanently shelved.

Although no specific reason was provided for why Disney has paused this remake of the 2010 animated movie starring Mandy Moore and Zachary Levi, THR does note the decision comes as the Rachel Zegler-led Snow White has been underperforming. The movie has received mixed reviews from critics (although the Rotten Tomatoes audience-produced Popcorn meter is more cheerful), with our own Sarah El-Mahmouh resting on the more positive side by giving it 3.5 out of 5 stars in her Snow White review. Commercially, it’s only made a little over $145 million worldwide, and it reportedly cost between $240-270 million to make.

Along with these underwhelming numbers, there’s also various controversies that surrounded Snow White even before its release, from Rachel Ziegler being cast in the title role to the way the Seven Dwarfs were reimagined as CGI creations. So it’s abundantly clear that Snow White will not go down as one of Disney’s successes. That’s ironic considering how its 1937 predecessor not only catapulted the company to new heights, but made waves across the entire filmmaking industry as the United States’ first animated feature film.

Again, we don’t know with 100% certainty that Snow White is the reason the live-action Tangled was paused, but noted by THR, the former movie “seemed to test the limits” of Disney live-action remake strategy. Maybe this version of Disney’s version of Rapunzel might get a second chance someday, but let’s also not discount the possibility that other Disney remakes could also be paused down the line. Perhaps the chances of seeing new takes on Hercules, Robin Hood, The Aristocats and Bambi aren’t as strong anymore.

If any updates come in on where things stand with the Tangled remake, we’ll let you know. For now, stream the original with your Disney+ subscription and catch the new Snow White in theaters.

Connoisseur of Marvel, DC, Star Wars, John Wick, MonsterVerse and Doctor Who lore, Adam is a Senior Content Producer at CinemaBlend. He started working for the site back in late 2014 writing exclusively comic book movie and TV-related articles, and along with branching out into other genres, he also made the jump to editing. Along with his writing and editing duties, as well as interviewing creative talent from time to time, he also oversees the assignment of movie-related features. He graduated from the University of Oregon with a degree in Journalism, and he’s been sourced numerous times on Wikipedia. He's aware he looks like Harry Potter and Clark Kent.