Back in January 2019, Anne Hathaway revealed that a script for The Princess Diaries 3 was being written. But earlier this year, her co-star Julie Andrews gave an update on the project, implying that the movie won’t be happening anytime soon.
During her appearance on The Talk last April, Andrews said that she heard about the possible The Princess Diaries 3, but noted that nothing is official yet as she has yet to receive a script.
“I’ve heard that there might be one. It’s long been talked about but nothing sort of been on my desk or anything like that,” Andrews revealed. “I’m going awfully old and crotchety. I’m not sure if it’s the right timing, but I think to work with Annie [Hathaway] would be lovely again. And yeah, sure, I would be up for it. I think we should wait if the script comes in just wait for that.”
Released in 2001, the first The Princess Diaries film follows the story of Mia Thermopolis (Hathaway), a shy American teenager who learns that she is heir to the throne of the European kingdom called Genovia. Under the tutelage of her estranged grandmother Queen Clarisse Renaldi (Andrews), Mia must decide whether she wishes to claim the throne she has inherited or abdicate her title permanently.
After the original film grossed over $165 million worldwide, the sequel The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement was released in 2004 to similar success. Twelve years later, Garry Marshall, the director of the first two films, announced that Hathaway would star in a third film after she gave birth to her first child. But when Marshall passed away in 2016, the development of the project came to a pause.
Though it looks like fans will have to wait a little longer for the third installment to materialize, Heather Matarazzo, who played Mia’s childhood best friend Lilly Moscovitz, told The Morning Show last July that The Princess Diaries 3 is a film that they all want to have done. “I know there is a script written, and we lost the captain of our ship, Garry Marshall, a few years ago. I think we have a little bit of a fire under our butt to get this done,” she said.
In addition to Hathaway, Andrews, and Matarazzo, franchise stars Chris Pine (Nicholas Deveraux), Héctor Elizondo (Joe), and Mandy Moore (Lana Thomas) have also expressed their desire to reprise their respective roles in the potential third movie.
Whether or not a third installment happens, fans may still see Mia, Queen Clarisse, and other characters from the films in a rumored spinoff for Disney+. Reportedly being developed by Martin Chase Productions, the production company owned by Debra Martin Chase who produced the first two movies of the franchise, the offshoot will tell the story of Mia’s biracial, teenage half-sister Olivia Harrison, who moves to Genovia to live with the royal family after finding out that she’s also a daughter of the late Prince of Genovia, Philippe Renaldi.
Update: In November 2022, The Hollywood Reporter exclusively revealed that Princess Diaries is in the works at Disney. Aadrita Mukerji, who has written episodes of Supergirl, Scorpion, Reacher, and Quantum Leap, is penning a script for the new installment.
Sadly, nearly a month after the news outlet broke the news that a Princess Diaries 3 is in development at Disney, Andrews sounded a bit more pessimistic when asked if she’s returning for the new movie.
“I think we know that it’s probably not going to be possible,” the 87-year-old actress told Access Hollywood in December 2022. “It was talked about very shortly after [Princess Diaries] 2 came out, but it’s now how many years since then? And I am that much older and Annie the princess, or queen, is so much older. And I am not sure where it would float or run. In terms of us doing it, I doubt that now.”
To learn more about the long-gestating Princess Diaries 3, click here.