Disney has cast its live-action Mother Gothel — and Zachary Levi is rooting for Tangled with his fingers crossed
Hahn takes Mother Gothel in Disney's live-action Tangled, out on 31 March 2028. Zachary Levi hopes it works.
Another week, another Disney classic gets dragged out of the cartoon vault for a shiny new live-action do-over. This time, it's Tangled getting the treatment, with all eyes on whether the magic holds up. And if you're wondering what Zachary Levi (the man behind Flynn Rider in the 2010 original) makes of it all—well, he's been chatting about precisely that.
Levi on the Tangled Remake
Levi spoke to ScreenRant about Disney's plans, sounding both supportive and a bit philosophical about the perils of remakes and sequels. Here's how he put it when talking about his hopes for the new team taking things forward:
I'm stoked for all those guys. I want everybody to succeed. I want everybody to succeed because I care very deeply about the IP and the world, and the new Flynn Rider, and we all care about that. And I want that live-action movie to be great.
He did point out—with a dash of classic Levi realism—that not every attempt to resurrect beloved franchises ends in glory. Disney itself certainly has form on that front. Levi continued with the kind of candour you'd expect from someone who's been on both sides of a reboot:
Unfortunately, not all of the time that we remake things, whether from animated to another, or we do sequels or whatever, it doesn't always work. And I want them to work. I want it to be beautiful. I want audiences to be like, 'I got everything that I loved about the animated movie in that live-action movie.'
The 2028 Cast and Crew
So, who's actually stepping into those impossibly shiny Disney shoes this time around? Here's your quick rundown of the main players in the live-action Tangled cast:
- Teagan Croft as Rapunzel (those of you who follow teen superhero telly will spot her from Titans)
- Milo Manheim as Flynn Rider
- Kathryn Hahn as Mother Gothel (which, if you ask me, is pitch-perfect casting for a manipulative villain)
- Diego Luna as Hawthorne
- Caitríona Balfe as Queen Arianna
- Elliot Cowan as King Frederic
- Patrick and Hugo McPherson as the Stabbington Brothers
The film sees Michael Gracey (of The Greatest Showman fame) behind the camera, working from a script by Jennifer Kaytin Robinson and Michael Montemayor. Yes, another full musical fantasy, so expect all the usual Disney singalong trimmings.
Expectations and History
Expectations are sky-high, not least because the original Tangled was properly massive. When it came out in 2010, it hauled in $591.8 million worldwide—no small feat, given the hefty $260 million budget. Not to mention, it managed a very decent 89% on Rotten Tomatoes, putting it squarely in the beloved camp for fans and critics alike.
Tangled's box office take topped $590 million against one of Disney's most expensive animation budgets ever.
This new live-action Tangled hits UK cinemas (and everywhere else, for that matter) on 31 March 2028. Whether it'll give you the same sort of warm, fuzzy nostalgia remains to be seen, but with Levi rooting for its success—and a pretty solid line-up—it's at least worth keeping an eye on.
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