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The whole studio is behind the Tangled franchise, and the announcement from Walt Disney Pictures yesterday that Teagan Croft and Milo Manheim have been cast as Rapunzel and Flynn Rider in the live-action adaptation of Tangled is just the icing on the cake.

The project, which has survived a tumultuous development process that has included long periods of dormancy and a reshuffling of the workforce, is now being advertised as the cornerstone of Disney’s theatrical lineup for the late 2020s. Directed by Michael Gracey (The Greatest Showman) and written by Jennifer Kaytin Robinson (Do Revenge), the film will be an adaptation of the 2010 animated classic to a “high-stakes musical event” exclusively for theatrical release. 

The selection of Croft and Manheim comes after an extensive international search and a number of intense screen tests held in London in the month of December 2025. This represents a clear and marked shift in the direction of casting actors who have solid musical theatre credentials and meaningful experience in the genre. 

As Disney contends with the post-pandemic box office environment and the complicated legacy of its prior live-action remakes, the Tangled film comes not only as a nostalgic gambit, but a shrewd bid to attract the rising Gen-Z and millennial audiences who consider the original movie a key cultural touchstone. 

Disney’s Strategic Reset: Why Tangled Became a Studio Priority

The path of the live-action Tangled is impossible to trace without placing it in the context of the financial situation for Walt Disney Studios as a whole. Entering late 2024 and into 2025, the studio was introspective, after a string of financial disappointments on key titles, most especially the live-action Snow White. Industry analysts noted a waning in public interest in remakes of early 20th century classics, which fueled speculation that projects such as Tangled had been put on hold indefinitely as to prevent any further risk. 

But the tides turned with the live-action Lilo and Stitch theatrical debut in May-2025. With a worldwide gross of over $1 billion, Lilo and Stitch demonstrated that remakes of “modern classics” (films originally released during the Disney Renaissance in the 2000s) had their own draw. This success restored corporate trust in the Tangled brand.

With a theatrical-only release, Disney is making clear that Tangled is to be a major cinematic event for the brand, rather than a direct-to-streaming filler. This strategy mirrors that of the upcoming Moana live action, set for release in July 2026, and maximum theatrical revenue before coming to Disney+. 

Disney’s Live-Action Track Record

Casting the Crown Jewels: Finding Rapunzel and Flynn

The hunt for Rapunzel and Flynn Rider was all-consuming and ended in chemistry tests in London just before the holiday season of 2025. In contrast to earlier casting calls which were geared towards attracting A-list celebrity names to serve as marketing anchors, the Tangled production team was looking for vocal performers who could capture the emotional complexity of the characters and who had the vocal endurance to perform Alan Menken’s -folk-rock score. 

Teagan Croft as Rapunzel

Teagan Croft is a young Australian actress of 21 years old, who was chosen from a multitude of finalists. Her previous work as Rachel Roth (Raven) on the DC show Titans was key to her casting. To play Raven, Croft had to grapple with isolation and secret empowerment—narrative beats that, surprisingly, mirror those Rapunzel undergoes as a prisoner of Mother Gothel.

Additionally, Croft’s turn in Netflix’s True Spirit showcased her ability to head a family-friendly survival film. From the very beginning, Rapunzel isn’t a typical princess with “Tangled”: she’s a bohemian dreamer and inquisitive teenager who’s been living as an insanely long tag-along to Mother Gothel for eighteen years. Croft’s talent for encompassing “wonder, grit, and curiosity” all at once made her the obvious choice. 

Milo Manheim’s Flynn Rider

According to THR, the casting of Milo Manheim as Flynn Rider (aka Eugene Fitzherbert) is celebrated in the Disney fandom. Manheim is a “Disney-native” talent, with seven years leading the Zombies franchise. From this, he gained an insight into the mechanics of the musical storytelling of the studio like no other.

Aside from his Disney Channel background, Manheim has made a name for himself as a powerhouse stage actor, most recently starring in Little Shop of Horrors off-Broadway. The role of Flynn Rider is notoriously difficult to nail down—it’s a very specific type of arrogance you have to convey paired with sincerity– the “smolder” has to be hilarious but the eventual vulnerability has to be real. Manheim’s previous Dancing with the Stars tenure further guarantees he has the nimble body necessary for swashbuckling action sequences. 

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Michael Gracey’s High-Stakes Musical Vision

Michael Gracey’s selection as director suggests a certain aesthetic for the film. Gracey, known for The Greatest Showman, is known for fusing modern musical tastes with the traditional theater spectacle. This one-size-fits-all template is especially curious when applied to Tangled, whose Alan Menken original score was a “folk-rock” departure from Broadway norms.

The director’s approach to films tend to focus on a “heightened reality.” For Tangled, this probably means that the Kingdom of Corona will be realized in tangible settings, rather than relying on the sterile “blue-screen” method. Backing Gracey is screenwriter Jennifer Kaytin Robinson, whose keen dialogue in Do Revenge indicates that the live-action script will keep the animated film’s sharp, current humor. 

The High-Pressure Search for Mother Gothel

While the leads have been disclosed, the Mother Gothel part is still very much up for grabs. Early reports suggested that Scarlett Johansson was attached, but she departed the project due to schedule conflicts. So there’s a gap to fill now, for the heart and soul of the film. 

Fans have made their support for Donna Murphy – the original voice actress, to come back to the role heard far and wide, and others have brought up Kathryn Hahn as a potential replacement for charismatic, manipulative roles. 

Conclusion

Production is scheduled to start in June 2026, indicating an arrival just for the big screen in late 2027 or 2028. The schedule provides ample time for the complex post-production work needed for the tricky physics of Rapunzel’s hair along with the environmental VFX.

The signing of Teagan Croft and Milo Manheim is more than just a headline, it is the first step in a massive multi-year plan to revive the Kingdom of Corona. The world awaits the lantern launch, and for the first time in years, the “dream” of a viable live action Rapunzel transition seems attainable. 

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The surprise pairing of Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter on the hallowed stage of Broadway — not as Bill S. Preston, Esq. and Ted “Theodore” Logan, but as the philosophical hoboes Vladimir and Estragon — has come into focus with the future of their beloved time-traveling franchise. Their joint venture into Samuel Beckett’s absurdist classic, Waiting for Godot, has not only reinforced their decades-long friendship, but has also served as the perfect, lofty-art soapbox to announce that a fourth movie venture is in the works: Bill & Ted 4. 

A Legendary Duo Returns to the Stage

Thirty-five years since they first prompted the world to “Be excellent to each other and party on, dudes,” Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter return as our spotlighted guides through space and time, swapping their time traveling phone booth for the desolate stage of the Hudson Theatre in New York. The impetus for the latest resurgence of affection for the Bill & Ted franchise is their critically lauded Broadway revival of Waiting for Godot.   

Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter swap their time-traveling phone booth for the existential waiting of Godot.

The reunion itself is a “crazy, inspired idea” dreamed up by Reeves, marking his Broadway debut and Winter’s first time back on stage in 40 years. Playing Vladimir (Winter) and Estragon (Reeves), the pair represents yet another set of lifelong friends desperately waiting for a fate that may we see ahead, a thematic resonance observers characterized as feeling “like ‘Bill and Ted’ on steroids”. Variety Shared, Winter recognized that the association was inescapable, saying, “We are inextricably Bill and Ted. So there’s going to be an element of that in there, because that’s who we are.”   

How Broadway Rekindled the Bill & Ted Spirit

While the Broadway reunion is a cultural landmark event, the real adjustment fans need to know about is around the back. Alex Winter has now delivered the most definitive confirmation to date on the possibility of a future film in the series, indicating that a fourth film is “slowly but surely happening”. More importantly, Winter confirmed that original screenwriters Chris Matheson and Ed Solomon have written a pitch for the sequel. 

Alex Winter confirms that a new script is in development with the original writers on board.

People catch longtime friends, Winter has confirmed the concept is indeed “really good, obvious really good.” while still keeping the plot under wraps. This caginess sets the creative tone of actors In The Room Clearly They Know What They Are Doing. Winter has stated that the films “have never been cash grab movies,” and they make them ” sincerely from a place of love and interest,” that is a bar they expect to clear for any further entries.

The lifelong friendship and professional partnership that Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter cultivated is essential to the continued viability of the Bill & Ted IP. The two actors reunited for the TV movie Bogus Journey in 1991 and then for a third time in 2020’s Face the Music. The lasting quality of their relationship, which has spanned over 30 years now, is the real emotional heart that grounds the often-absurd science fiction conceit of the movies.

The current project, the Broadway revival of Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot, has been a conscious decision for the actors to reunite, this time outside of the well-formed characters of Bill and Ted. Previews began September 13th for the, production was led by Reeves, who came to Winter with the “crazy, inspired idea” of doing the monumental play, leading one’s debut on Broadway and here for Winter after four decades. 

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The Deeper Meaning Behind the Reunion

Using Godot as the reunion mechanism operates as a sly, brainy hook to a potential sequel. The overarching fear in Bill & Ted Face the Music was failure: the now-middle-aged pair still hadn’t written the world-saving song foretold in the first films. Their constant nervous, procrastinated fate-perversion — waiting for inspiration, waiting for success — is a direct reflection of Vladimir and Estragon’s long, agonizing wait in Godot.

In staging a play about which the whole point is to wait for salvation, Reeves and Winter are making a conscious, profound statement about their characters’ mythology, and laying the psychological foundation for a fourth film about whether Bill and Ted ever really fulfilled their destiny. 

Conclusion

The reunion of Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter on Broadway is the cultural and psychic engine powering the next chapter of the Bill & Ted saga. The friendship, boosted up by Waiting for Godot’s gravitas, not only reaffirms their unique connection, but reveals a mutual willingness to risk going further creatively.

The participation of Bill & Ted series stars Reeves and Winter as well as original writers Matheson & Solomon means that Bill & Ted 4 will be a strong, idea-led concept, and that it will live up to the high standards the fans expect and demand.

There is plenty of “real” friendship and proven digital profitability plus renewed artistic collaboration of the three leads to suggest that a third film is a matter of when, not if. The upcoming episode is set to capitalize on the digital market and offer the very particular cocktail of hopefulness and the absurd that people seem to keep wanting more of from Bill and Ted.