At last, Disney has seen the light. It sent up its lanterns and now, after months of speculation, has found its leads for the upcoming live-action remake of Tangled. Teagan Croft, best known for the DC show Titans, and Milo Manheim, from Disney’s Zombies, will play Rapunzel and Flynn Rider, respectively.
Teagan Croft and Milo Manheim are Rapunzel and Flynn Rider in the live-action reimagining of Disney's Tangled. Coming only to theaters. pic.twitter.com/YKaK1BM5Sd
— Disney (@Disney) January 7, 2026
The Hollywood Reporter broke the news of the casting. As previously announced, Michael Gracey, who made the musicals Better Man and The Greatest Showman, is directing from a script by Jennifer Kaytin Robinson. The roles were previously played by Mandy Moore and Zachary Levi, who lent their voices to the 2010 animated hit.
Retelling the story of Rapunzel, about a young woman with magical hair imprisoned in a massive tower, Tangled becomes Disney’s latest live-action adaptation of an animated film. Last year saw Lilo & Stitch gross over $1 billion for the studio, and this year’s upcoming Moana is sure to get close to, if not surpass, that. It’s the perfect formula for Disney. The story, songs, and name recognition are all already in place. You just make it all over again. It’s been a tried and true practice going back almost 30 years with Glenn Close’s 101 Dalmatians. In the years since, we’ve seen The Lion King, Beauty and the Beast, The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, and many more. And now, we’re getting to this generation’s films.
Next up for Gracey and his team is casting the evil Mother Gothel, a role that Scarlett Johansson was circling before signing on to make a new Exorcist movie. If that Disney pattern holds, it will be someone very famous in that role.
Like all these other remakes, we think audiences will show up for the baseline enjoyment of just revisiting some of the best songs and moments in Tangled again. Will the movie be great beyond that? We’ll see. But we think most people will be happy enough if Croft and Manheim nail that unforgettable lantern scene.
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