Diego Luna Joins Disney’s Live-Action ‘Tangled’ in a Mysterious Brand-New Role
Disney’s live-action reimagining of ‘Tangled’ just landed one of its most exciting cast additions yet. Diego Luna has joined the project in a role created specifically for the new film, meaning audiences won’t be able to map his character onto anyone from the beloved 2010 original. The news has sent anticipation for the remake surging across social media, with fans already speculating wildly about who the ‘Andor’ star could be playing in the kingdom of Corona.
The project adapts Disney’s 2010 Academy Award-nominated animated film and marks another collaboration between Luna and the studio following ‘Andor’. It remains unclear whether Luna, as part of this newly created role, will be required to sing, as details on the live-action take are being kept firmly in the castle. Given that director Michael Gracey, the filmmaker behind ‘The Greatest Showman’ and ‘Better Man’, is steering the ship with a heavy emphasis on musical elements, the odds of Luna lending his voice to a song or two seem reasonably strong.
Luna will join Teagan Croft as Rapunzel and Milo Manheim as Flynn Rider, the cheeky outlaw who helps the princess break out of her tower prison. Kathryn Hahn is also on board, set to play the duplicitous Mother Gothel, who imprisoned Rapunzel after inadvertently absorbing the powers of a magical golden flower into the princess’s long, flowing locks. It is a formidable ensemble, and Luna’s addition raises the collective star power of the film considerably.
Luna is already well embedded in the Disney family thanks to his acclaimed starring turn in ‘Andor’, the Star Wars series created by Tony Gilroy, which earned him nominations for Emmy, Golden Globe, and Critics Choice Awards. Outside of that galaxy far, far away, he is also celebrated for his roles in ‘Y Tu Mamá También’, ‘La Máquina’, and ‘Rogue One: A Star Wars Story’. Casting him in ‘Tangled’ is a statement move that signals Disney’s desire to bring genuine dramatic credibility alongside the fairy-tale spectacle.
Production on the live-action ‘Tangled’ is set to begin in Spain this June, though a release date has not yet been announced. The screenplay was penned by Jennifer Kaytin Robinson and Michael Montemayor, with Kristin Burr producing under her Burr! Productions banner. The Spanish filming location is a fitting choice for a story rooted in sun-drenched, storybook European landscapes.
The live-action ‘Tangled’ remake is arriving in the wake of a turbulent period for Disney’s remake pipeline. ‘Snow White’, which carried a rumored budget of $270 million, made only $205.7 million worldwide, prompting internal questions about the studio’s strategy. But ‘Lilo and Stitch’, released shortly after, grossed over $1 billion worldwide and became the highest-grossing domestic release of that year, restoring confidence in the approach. With a director of Gracey’s musical pedigree now at the helm and a cast headlined by Luna and Hahn, ‘Tangled’ is shaping up to be one of the more creatively ambitious entries in that lineage yet.
The original animated ‘Tangled’ grossed over $590 million worldwide, scored an Oscar nomination for its original song “I See the Light”, and was widely credited with revitalizing Disney’s princess genre for a new generation. The live-action version has enormous shoes to fill, but this latest casting announcement suggests the studio is taking the challenge seriously.
