Where’s Princess Diaries 3? If you can believe it, this summer will mark 20 years since the sequel, Royal Engagement, hit theaters and introduced us all to Chris Pine (Yes, it was his debut movie role). Ahead of the anniversary, Pine revealed his wishes for another Princess Diaries movie, and while his pitch is absolutely nuts, I’m also very much here for it.
What’s Going On With Princess Diaries 3?
Talk of Princess Diaries 3 has been circulating since 2016, but at this point, we’re not totally sure if it’ll happen or not. When Mia Thermopolis herself, Anne Hathaway, was asked about returning to play the Queen of Genovia in a recent V magazine interview, she said development was “in a good place,” but there was “nothing to announce yet.”
Hathaway’s update comes after it was reported back in 2022 that Disney was working on a third Princess Diaries movie with screenwriter Aadrita Mukerji. (The movie’s original writer, Shonda Rhimes, is busy with a Netflix exclusivity deal). Chris Pine has previously shared his interest in going back to the Disney property to play Nicholas Devereaux, but it sounds like the actors are still waiting on a script to read before anything is official. But, what would Pine do with Princess Diaries if he was given the reins?
Chris Pine’s Wild Pitch For Princess Diaries 3
When Chris Pine went back in time with his previous roles with Entertainment Weekly, as his directorial debut Poolman joins the 2024 movie releases, he brought up an idea for the sequel. In his words:
If it were me, they’d have a time machine and they’d go back to the ’50s and it’d be like 1955 in Rome. You know, like, what it would be? It would be like a Luca Guadagnino film, [he] directs Princess Diaries 3. Now that is fucking fire.
Now… this is unexpected. Of course, from our knowledge, Princess Diaries has never included sci-fi elements like time travel, but Pine definitely has developed a vision for what Princess Diaries 3 could be. Rather than making it your typical Disney sequel, it sounds like he wants to emulate Roman Holiday with Anne Hathaway and enlist Call Me By Your Name and Challengers director Luca Guadagnino.
Why I’m Actually Sold On Pine’s Left-Field Idea
Look, I know Chris Pine’s idea is kind of wacky, but there’s one major reason why I’m kind of into it. If Mia and Nicholas somehow did find themselves in the 1950s, you know who they could meet? A younger Clarisse Renaldi! That’s right, imagine Mia actually helping her grandmother take up the crown before she was Julie Andrews?
Now of course I’d rather see Anne Hathaway and Julie Andrews together in the same movie, Andrews is 88, and there’s a possibility that the actress would be in another Princess Diaries for a very short time, or not at all. If Princess Diaries 3 was a time travel flick, it would allow Hathaway to learn more about her grandmother and Genovia’s past.
Not a bad idea after all, huh? We’ll certainly keep you updated if we learn more about the project. For now, you can watch the first two Princess Diaries movies with a Disney+ subscription.