Anne Hathaway has for many years repeatedly thrown her support behind a sequel. Photo / Supplied
Anne Hathaway has for many years repeatedly thrown her support behind a sequel. Photo / Supplied
Hear ye, hear ye, the royal family of Genovia is inviting you to return to its quaint kingdom.
Or, Disney is inviting The Princess Diaries fans to return to the franchise.
In news that will surely make some 30-somethings squeal in delight, The Princess Diaries 3 is coming, according to a report in The Hollywood Reporter.
The long-awaited potential sequel to Anne Hathaway’s breakthrough role is at the script stage, with screenwriter Aadrita Mukerji (Supergirl, Reacher) attached.
Hathaway is not yet confirmed to reprise her role as Mia Thermopolis, awkward San Francisco schoolgirl turned monarch of a fictional European kingdom. THR said there is no deal in place for Hathaway to return.
But fans are hopeful she will. Hathaway has for many years repeatedly thrown her support behind a sequel, which is expected to be a continuation of Mia’s story and not a reboot.
In 2019, Hathaway told Watch What Happens Live: “There is a script for the third movie. I want to do it, Julie [Andrews] wants to do it. We all really want it to happen. It’s just we don’t want to unless it’s perfect, because we love it just as much as you guys love it.
Julie Andrews stars with Anne Hathaway in The Princess Diaries. Photo / Supplied
“It’s as important to us as it is to you, and we don’t want to deliver anything until it’s ready, but we’re working on it, so …”
And more recently last month, she said to ET she would jump at the chance to work with Andrews again.
“I would more than entertain it, I’m pulling for it. If there’s any way to get Julie Andrews involved, I think we could make it work. We would go to where she was and put a green screen behind her and just make it happen.”
Debra Martin Chase, who was a producer on the first two Princess Diaries movies, is back on board in a similar role while The Other Woman screenwriter Melissa Stack is an executive producer.
Garry Marshall, who directed the first two films, died in 2016 so Disney will be looking for someone else to step into that role.
The Princess Diaries, based on Meg Cabot’s book, was released in 2001 and was Hathaway’s first big screen role. She had previously been part of the ensemble of a little-seen family dramedy called Get Real.
The first movie told the story of Hathaway’s Mia finding out she is secretly the heir to the throne of Genovia. Her grandmother the Queen Regent Clarisse Renaldi (Andrews) had the challenging task of preparing Mia for her new life.
A 2004 sequel jumped forward to Mia’s post-university years in the lead-up to her ascension to the throne. The Princess Diaries 2 also starred Chris Pine as her love interest, an aristocrat whose scheming uncle was trying to claim the throne for his nephew.
