After Snow White flopped, Rapunzel's live-action dreams on hold

Looks like Rapunzel will not be letting down her hair just yet — at least not in live-action. Disney has quietly pulled the brakes on its planned remake of Tangled, the beloved 2010 animated classic that gave us lanterns, sass, and one very iconic frying pan.

Snow White | Credit: X

Amid Snow White flop, Disney holds  Rapunzel

The film was being set up with The Greatest Showman director Michael Gracey and a script from Do Revenge writer Jennifer Kaytin Robinson. Fans were already spiralling into dream-casting mode (Florence Pugh? Sabrina Carpenter? Zendaya?), but the fairytale bubble has burst — for now.

Snow White | Credit: X

Why the sudden slow-mo? Blame it on the Snow White flop. Yep, Disney’s recent remake of the OG princess tale did not exactly live happily ever after. Despite a jaw-dropping $270 million budget — thank the 2023 strikes for that inflation — the film only managed to rake in $69 million in the US and $145 million worldwide. Oof.

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Add to that a whirlwind of controversies, from casting backlash to awkward promo statements by lead Rachel Zegler, and the studio’s magic carpet ride has clearly hit turbulence. The film’s B+ CinemaScore and 50% Metacritic rating were far from fairy-tale gold.

So now, Disney seems to be second-guessing its tried-and-tested (or tired and overdone?) live-action formula. Sure, Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King were mega-hits, but Dumbo and Pete’s Dragon? Total snooze-fests. Even The Little Mermaid, despite all the hype, could not crack the billion mark, stopping at $570 million globally.

Credit: X

After Snow White flopped, Rapunzel’s live-action dreams on hold

As for Mufasa: The Lion King, it managed a meh domestic opening but then roared to a solid $718 million globally. So, clearly, nostalgia still sells — but maybe not on autopilot.

With audience fatigue clearly setting in, Disney might be finally doing what it should have done ages ago: rethinking. Whether Tangled will come back stronger, better, or even at all is still up in the air (or the tower, if you will). Until then, we will just have to settle for rewatching the animated classic and dreaming of lantern-lit reboots that actually work.