Although Disney has expanded its media empire through acquisitions like Marvel and Star Wars, the company still loves to dish out cinematic fairy tale adaptations to the masses like it's been doing for nearly a century. In recent years Disney has been taking many of its animated classics and turning them into live action adaptations, and while some of these movies are relatively faithful to the original, like Beauty and the Beast, others have taken more creative liberties, like Maleficent. We can now add another movie into the latter category, as it was reported today that Disney is dusting off its live action Prince Charming movie, only it won't be centered on the attractive protagonist who's popped up in several of the Mouse House's movies.
Disney has hired Wonder director/writer Stephen Chbosky to pen the Prince Charming movie, and it's possible he may sit in the director's chair for this project, too. Two years ago, Matt Fogel was hired to write the initial script for this project, which was said to be a revisionist take on the Prince Charming fairy tale concept. According to THR, the movie will follow the point of view of Prince Charming's brother, who "never quite lived up to the family name." David Hoberman and Todd Lieberman are attached as producers.
Along with helming and penning the upcoming Wonder, which stars Julia Roberts and Jacob Tremblay, Chbosky is well known for writing the 1999 novel The Perks of Being a Wallflower, which he later translated into a feature film starring Emma Watson, Logan Lerman and Ezra Miller. Chbosky also wrote the recent Beauty and the Beast remake, which remains the highest-grossing movie of 2017 so far.
Within the Disney realm, the Prince Charming character has appeared in movies like Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty among others. It's unclear if this movie will be based on any of those previous versions (which could subsequently mean one of their princess significant others will also appear) or if it will be an original Prince Charming iteration, though considering that this story will be focused on his brother, it probably won't make much of a difference either way.
While Disney's live action fairy tale remakes have been earnest and sincere, this Prince Charming movie sounds like it could work well as a comedy similar to 2007's Enchanted, which also parodied Disney's fairy tale tropes. Perhaps the other Charming will go on a journey to escape his brother's shadow, and once he realizes that he's not cut out to woo random well-dressed Disney women, he can finally find happiness elsewhere.
Keep checking back with CinemaBlend for more news on how the Prince Charming movie is developing. As for what else Disney is releasing in the coming years, look through our release date guide.
