Tiana’s story may be getting a very different second act. The Disney princess has one of the studio’s most distinctive worlds, from New Orleans to its jazz-filled bayous and her dream of opening a restaurant. Her first movie ended with a happily-ever-after, but that does not mean her story has to end there. Now, Tiana could be heading back to the big screen in a new form.
What We Know About the Tiana Project
Colman Domingo is in talks to co-write an original live-action feature centered on Tiana. According to Deadline, Domingo would write the script with Robert O’Hara, the Tony-nominated director and playwright behind “Slave Play.” The project remains in the early stages, and no deals have been finalized yet.
The movie would not simply recreate the animated film in live action. The project is reportedly being developed as a spinoff inspired by “The Princess and the Frog.” Disney has not announced a cast, release date, or plot details.
Domingo arrives with plenty of writing experience. He wrote the book for “Summer: The Donna Summer Musical” and co-produced “Fat Ham,” which earned a Tony nomination for best play. He also earned two 2026 Emmy nominations for “The Four Seasons” and “Euphoria.” His recent film work includes “Michael,” where he plays Joe Jackson.
O’Hara also has a theater background. He directed “Slave Play” and wrote works including “Bootycandy” and “Insurrection: Holding History.” “Bootycandy” won the Lambda Literary Award for LGBT Drama.
Why Tiana Remains One of Disney’s Most Important Princesses
Released in 2009, “The Princess and the Frog” follows Tiana, a New Orleans waitress who dreams of opening her own restaurant. After Prince Naveen, who has been transformed into a frog, mistakes Tiana for a princess and kisses her, she becomes a frog, too. The pair then race to break the curse and return to human form. Anika Noni Rose voiced Tiana, while Randy Newman wrote the film’s songs and score.
The movie earned three Oscar nominations, including Best Animated Feature and two nominations for Newman’s songs, “Almost There” and “Down in New Orleans.” It grossed more than $267 million worldwide.
The film also marked Disney’s return to hand-drawn animation. It remains the studio’s most recent hand-drawn animated feature. Its New Orleans setting gave the movie a distinct musical identity, with jazz, blues, and other sounds shaping its world.
Tiana almost returned through a different format. Disney announced an animated “Tiana” series for Disney+ in 2020. The show would have followed Tiana after becoming the princess of Maldonia, with Rose set to reprise the role. Disney later shelved the series in 2025 as the animation studio moved away from long-form streaming projects. The company instead planned a special inspired by “The Princess and the Frog.”
That makes the potential live-action movie an especially notable turn. For now, though, the project remains in development rather than a finished movie.
Tiana’s Next Chapter Could Look Very Different
No release date, cast, or finished script exists yet. What exists is a pairing of writers, a familiar Disney character, and a plan for an original story rather than a direct remake. If the project moves forward, Tiana could return to the screen without simply retracing her first adventure. For a character whose original story was already about building a life on her own terms, a new chapter could allow Disney to take her world in an entirely different direction.
Would you watch a live-action Tiana movie from Colman Domingo and Robert O’Hara?
