It’s been a minute since we saw Diego Luna; the actor was last glimpsed on TV and film in last year’s series finale of Star Wars: Andor, flying off to go be a much younger version of himself who then gets himself killed in 2016’s Rogue One. Now, though, it sounds like Luna’s been missing his old pals at Disney, as THR reports that the actor has signed on for the studio’s long-brewing live-action remake of Tangled.
Now, you may find yourself asking: Who the hell would Luna play in Tangled? He’s too old to play Flynn, a part that’s been filled by Disney alum Milo Mannheim in any case. And his profile feels a little too high to play one of the anonymous thugs who frequent the Snuggly Duckling pub. The actual answer, turns out, is that Luna is joining the film in a wholly original part, written for this live-action revamping of the 2010 original. In so doing, he’ll join a cast that also includes Kathryn Hahn, who was announced, earlier this year, to be taking the plum role of the film’s hair-hungry villain, Mother Gothel.
Tangled—which is expected to start filming next month in Spain—represents Disney’s latest push to try to figure out which of its animated properties people will pay a billion dollars to get semi-artfully regurgitated to them, and which they’ll reject. (The 2025 dichotomy of Snow White bombing while Lilo And Stitch made huge stacks of cash seems to suggest “Movies actually made in the audience’s lifetimes” might be a good vector for nostalgic attack.) The new version of the film is being directed by Better Man and The Greatest Showman‘s Michael Tracey, and is unsurprisingly expected to incorporate some big musical moments; that certainly worked for the original film, which was a hefty hit for Disney back in its day, bringing in more than $590 million at the box office.
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