Colman Domingo In Talks To Co-Write ‘Princess & The Frog’ Live-Action Film For Disney

While Disney’s latest live-action adaptation based on one of their hits from the animation library, “Moana,” has been struggling at the box office, another project has surfaced over the weekend, as actor/director Colman Domingo is now in active talks to help co-write a live-action feature film featuring the characters from the New Orleans-set “The Princess & The Frog.”

As pointed out in Deadline’s report and backed by THR, Domingo, if a deal were reached, would co-write a script with Tony-nominated director Robert O’Hara, but the project wouldn’t be a “direct remake” of the original 2009 film that was co-directed by Disney legends John Musker and Ron Clements (previously behind “The Little Mermaid” and “Aladdin“).

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In that movie, it follows “Princess Tiana, an aspiring restaurant owner who tries to help a frog prince turn back into a human, when she herself also turns into a frog, and they end up falling in love.”

We would have to presume Domingo ends up walking away with an acting role in the Disney flick as well, although that’s not entirely clear from the project’s reveal and early information laid out in the report. Domingo’s most recent credits include the Antoine Fuqua-helmed hit biopic “Michael,” Steven Spielberg‘s UFO pick “Disclosure Day,” the Netflix couple comedy series “The Four Seasons,” a role in the final season of HBO‘s “Euphoria,” and playing one of the bad guys in Edgar Wright‘s remake of “The Running Man.”

While some might be skiddish about Disney tackling another animated-to-live-action film after a hiccup like “Moana,” it should be pointed out that the live-action “Lilo & Stitch” ended up making the studio over a billion dollars (co-creator and voice of Stitch Chris Sanders has been enlisted to helm the sequel) and, like “The Princess & The Frog,” first debuted back in the 2000s (one of their few 2D offerings from that decade).

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There is an expectation that it has more bankable nolstagia likely built up here with “The Princess & The Frog” than some of the older legacy animated films from the Disney vault. As it became the theme used when the ride Splash Mountain was updated at the theme park as Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, so current-day kids would be more familiar with the property than, say, “Snow White” (another live-action remake that had a really tough time connecting with kids and audiences, leading to a fizzle-out at the box office).