Colman Domingo is in talks to co-write a live-action feature film centered on Princess Tiana, the character from Disney's 2009 animated film Princess and the Frog. Domingo will co-write the script with Robert O'Hara, the Tony-nominated director of Slave Play, according to a report by Deadline.
The project is described as a spinoff of the animated film rather than a straight remake. That puts it in a different category from Disney's live-action Beauty and the Beast spinoff Gaston, which is also in development.
Princess and the Frog was the last hand-drawn animated feature from Disney. Directed by John Musker and Ron Clements, it is set in New Orleans during the 1920s and based on E.D. Baker's novel The Frog Princess. The film follows Tiana, a waitress voiced by Anika Noni Rose, who dreams of opening her own restaurant. She becomes a frog after trying to break a curse on a prince placed by an evil voodoo witch doctor named Facilier. The film grossed $267 million at the worldwide box office and earned three Oscar nominations, including Best Animated Feature. Two-time Oscar winner Randy Newman wrote the score and songs.
Domingo brings significant theater credentials to the project. He wrote the book for Summer: The Donna Summer Musical in 2018 and co-produced Fat Ham in 2023, a modern take on Hamlet that received a Tony nomination for Best Play. His other theatrical works include The Brother(s), the libretto for Lights Out: Nat "King" Cole, and the plays Dot, Wild With Happy, A Boy and His Soul, and Up Jumped Springtime. He is a two-time Oscar nominee and currently holds two Emmy nominations this year, for Comedy Series Supporting Actor for Netflix's Four Seasons and Guest Actor in a Drama Series.
O'Hara received a Tony nomination in 2020 for directing Slave Play.
Deadline noted that deals are not yet finalized and the project remains in early development.
The Tiana project joins a crowded slate of Disney live-action adaptations. Tangled is currently in production under director Michael Gracey, with Kathryn Hahn, Diego Luna, Milo Manheim, and Teagan Croft attached. Stepsisters, a Cinderella spinoff, is being directed by Akiva Schaffer. Lilo and Stitch 2 is in development from filmmaker Chris Sanders, and Impossible Creatures, based on Katherine Rundell's fantasy series, is also in the pipeline.
Disney's live-action adaptations have had mixed results recently. The 2025 version of Lilo and Stitch grossed more than $1 billion, while the recent live-action Moana starring Dwayne Johnson opened to $43 million in the U.S. and Canada, coming in below expectations.
