Disney+ is officially developing a television adaptation of ‘Ella Enchanted,’ bringing the fantasy franchise back more than two decades after the release of the 2004 film starring Anne Hathaway. The new project will adapt both Gail Carson Levine’s original 1997 novel and elements of the cult fantasy movie that later gained a strong following among younger audiences.
Anne Hathaway is returning to the franchise for the new adaptation, although not in front of the camera. The actress, who played Ella of Frell in the original film, has joined the project as an executive producer. Disney+ has not announced whether Hathaway plans to appear in the series itself.
What Changes Does the New Series Offer?
While the basic idea remains unchanged in the new series, Disney+ plans to introduce a new approach to the presentation of ‘Ella Enchanted.’ Unlike the previous movies about Ella and her curse, the main focus of the series is going to be on coming-of-age moments from the original book by Gail Carson Levine.
The heroine will still live under the spell cast on her at birth by her fairy godmother. The spell requires her to obey any order that she gets. However, the new adaptation is not going to continue the road trip fantasy and romantic comedy style. Instead, it will mostly happen in the setting of a finishing school for girls. In particular, the plot will be based on a specific fragment of the novel that got very limited attention in the original movie.
The choice of the setting allows shifting the plot of ‘Ella Enchanted’ to more traditional YA themes of friendship, bullying, peer pressure, and identity. In such a way, many people have already begun comparing the new series to Netflix’s latest teen horror series, ‘Wednesday.’
In the new series, Ella’s curse becomes much more dangerous. At the finishing school, she needs to hide her inability to disobey all orders from her peers and teachers.
Disney+ has found a great scriptwriter for this project. Ilana Wolpert, the author of ‘Anyone But You,’ will be responsible for writing the scripts for ‘Ella Enchanted.’ The showrunner of the project is Beth Schwartz, a person who created the plots for Netflix’s ‘Dead Boy Detectives’ and worked on a series of projects dedicated to DC characters.
This series will be created under the joint production of Miramax Television and Paramount Television Studios.
At the moment, Disney+ has not announced casting details, production dates, or a release window. Still, the involvement of Hathaway and the major tonal shift already make the project one of the platform’s most closely watched fantasy developments. For longtime fans of ‘Ella Enchanted,’ the reboot appears ready to revisit the original story from a much more character-focused perspective.
