Disney live-action remakes have been going through a weird phase, meaning that they aren’t the surefire box office successes that they used to be. While many of the live-action remakes have been critically panned since the very beginning, they were mostly all box office hits throughout the 2010s, whether they were beat-for-beat remakes like The Lion King or reimaginings like Maleficent.
However, the 2020s have changed things. Remakes like The Little Mermaid and Lilo & Stitch have been huge hits, while Snow White and the recently released Moana movie have been major disappointments. This has caused developments on remakes like Aristocats, The Sword in the Stone, and The Hunchback of Notre Dame to be paused, while making the performances of these confirmed live-action remakes a mystery.
The only Disney live-action remake to have a release date on Disney’s slate isn’t a remake at all. Instead, it is Lilo & Stitch 2, the sequel to 2025’s Lilo & Stitch live-action remake. Chris Sanders, the director and writer of the animated film as well as the longtime voice of Stitch, is writing and directing the live-action sequel. While story details have been confirmed, it isn’t expected to be a remake of the 2005 direct-to-DVD sequel Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch based on the 2025 film’s handling of Jumbaa. Instead, it will probably tell an original story.
The 2025 remake made over $1 billion on a budget of $100 million, making it one of the most successful Disney live-action remakes. Since viewers who grew up with the original are adults now, this isn’t surprising. However, the fact that the sequel is a sequel throws a wrench into things. Mufasa: The Lion King and Maleficent: Mistress of Evil proved that original stories set in live-action remake universes can be a success, although not as big as the actual remakes. Nevertheless, Lilo & Stitch 2 seems like a safe bet at the box office.
Of all the live-action remakes on Disney’s slate, Tangled seems like the most likely to be a major hit at the box office. A live-action Tangled remake was confirmed to be in development in December 2024, and it has been receiving updates ever since. While the box office failure of Snow White caused development to be paused, it was resumed after the success of Lilo & Stitch. The movie will star Teagan Croft as Rapunzel, Milo Manheim as Flynn Rider, Kathryn Hahn as Mother Gothel, and Diego Luna in an undisclosed role. Filming is set to start in August 2026, with no release date announced.
The original Tangled was released in 2010, meaning that 2026 is the perfect time for a remake. Viewers who were alive when the first movie came out are adults now, and they are the perfect target demographic for a remake. While Moana does prove that direct remakes aren’t a guaranteed formula for success, Tangled is a few years older, giving it a leg up on the 2026 remake. We still haven’t seen what Tangled looks like yet, but it will most likely follow in the footsteps of Lilo & Stitch and The Little Mermaid.
1997’s Hercules is one of the few films from the Disney Renaissance that hasn’t been touched by live-action remakes yet, but one is finally happening. In June 2022, it was announced that Guy Ritchie, director of the live-action Aladdin remake, is returning to direct the live-action Hercules remake. Joe and Anthony Russo will produce the film, although very little is known about the remake beyond that.
Hercules is an interesting case. On the one hand, it is a direct live-action remake, giving it a leg up on the stranger live-action sequels and reimaginings that Disney is developing. On the other hand, Hercules has never had the strong brand recognition shared by movies like The Lion King, Aladdin, and Beauty and the Beast. Odd details like the Russos saying that Hercules is inspired by TikTok mean that the remake could take a strange direction. If this direction is present in the marketing materials, that could push viewers away from the film.
The final Disney live-action remake-related film that is still getting active updates is Maleficent 3. 2014’s Maleficent is one of the most interesting live-action remakes, with it being a reimagining focused on the titular villain rather than a true Sleeping Beauty remake. It began a trend that was continued by Cruella, with Maleficent making $759.8 million. The 2019 sequel Maleficent: Mistress of Evil made $491.7 million, which, while less successful than its predecessor, was still enough to warrant a sequel. A third Maleficent movie was announced in December 2023, with it being revealed that Linda Woolverton will write the film in March 2025.
Of all the films on this list, Maleficent 3 is most likely to fail at the box office. It has already been seven years since the less-successful Mistress of Evil, and over a decade since the first remake. The desire for a third movie doesn’t seem to exist, and with the decline in the success of remakes, it’ll be surprising if Maleficent 3 is a hit.
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