Disney is revisiting the story of Rapunzel, placing a live-action Tangled into active development with Scarlett Johansson set too direct. The project signals Disney’s continued strategy of reimagining its animated classics for a contemporary audience while concurrently building new intellectual property.
The news arrives as Disney’s live-action remakes continue to demonstrate box office strength; Lilo & Stitch, also a recent live-action adaptation, has become the highest-grossing MPA title of 2025 to date, earning $1.03 billion worldwide. While a Tangled remake isn’t formally greenlit, Johansson’s involvement underscores the studio’s commitment to this approach. The original 2010 animated Tangled grossed nearly $600 million globally, following Rapunzel, a princess with magical long hair who discovers the world beyond her tower with the help of a runaway thief.
Johansson’s feature directorial debut, Eleanor the Great, starring June Squibb, recently premiered in theaters through Sony Pictures Classics and boasts a 94% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, following a six-minute standing ovation at the Cannes Film Festival.she also appeared in two summer blockbusters: Wes Anderson’s The Phoenician Scheme and Worldwide’s Jurassic World Rebirth, the latter of which has earned $867.9 million,making it the third highest-grossing MPA title of the year.
Disney’s Live Action team, under Johansson’s potential direction, intends to both celebrate and modernize existing stories and invest in original IP, as demonstrated by the recent announcement of Unachievable Creatures. Johansson’s films have collectively grossed $17.7 billion worldwide. She is represented by CAA and Yorn Levine Barnes.