If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Or in other words, if something makes a whole load of money at the box office then simply repeat the formula until people get sick of it.
Such is the case with Disney, which is continuing its trend of developing revisionist live-action versions of classic fairytale stories/characters by planning a Prince Charming-centric movie.
The studio recently found massive successes with Maleficent ($758 million worldwide) and Cinderella ($539 million worldwide), and are currently working on both a Tinkerbell movie with Reese Witherspoon and an expanded Night on Bald Mountain feature. And since the character of Prince Charming has become so known in pop culture even today – largely thanks to Disney with the likes of Snow White and the Seven Dwarves and Sleeping Beauty – it really is no surprise the studio is giving him his own cinematic stage.
Matt Fogel wrote the script for the film, which like Maleficent and last year’s all-star musical Into the Woods is being described as, “a revisionist take on fairytales.” No surprise there. Although Fogel having written the awful ‘Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son’ doesn’t exactly inspirse confidence, he crucially worked as an assistant to Phil Lord and Chris Miller on the making of Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs and has also worked on Disney’s upcoming Bob: The Musical. David Hoberman and Todd Lieberman of Mandeville Film/TV (Muppets Most Wanted, The Fighter) are producing alongside Tripp Vinson (Journey 2: The Mysterious Island).
The key to a Prince Charming film working – and perhaps its success (Jolie was probably a large part of why so many people were interested in Maleficent) – will be the casting of the central character. No word on that yet but I’m sure all the usual hot young male stars in Hollywood will be considered.
Source: THR