Emmy Award winner and Oscar nominee Colman Domingo and “Slavery” director Robert O’Hara are in talks to write a live-action screenplay based on Disney’s “Princess Tiana”.
The project, which is in the studio’s very early stages, is an original idea inspired by the 2009 animated classic “The Princess and the Frog,” in which Anika Noni Rose provided the voice of Tiana. This musical fairy tale, set in 1920s New Orleans, centers on Tiana, a waitress with dreams of becoming a restaurant owner, who sets out on a journey to turn a frog prince back into a human, only to face the same problem after kissing him. The film grossed $267 million worldwide and was nominated for three Academy Awards, including Best Animated Feature and two songs by Randy Newman, “Almost There” and “Down in New Orleans.” While plans for a spin-off series stalled, Disney commemorated Princess Tiana’s popularity by re-theming the theme park’s Splash Mountain attraction at Disney World and Disneyland as “Tiana’s Bayou Adventure.”
The “Princess Kiss” project comes as Domingo celebrates a big 2026 with the films “Michael” (which topped $1 billion and became the highest-grossing music biopic of all time) and “Disclosure Day,” as well as the TV shows “The Four Seasons” and “Euphoria,” for which Domingo received two more Emmy nominations.
While accepting Variety’s Creative Conscience Award last month, Domingo said he had noticed a change in how Hollywood viewed him in recent years. “I’m now being seen the way I’ve always wanted to be seen, which was multi-hyphenation,” he said. “I’ve never wanted to just be an actor. I’ve always wanted to act, write, direct and produce.”
Later this year, Domingo will begin production on the Nat “King” Cole biopic “Unforgettable,” in which he will serve as director, producer, and star. He is repped by WME, Liebman Entertainment, and Shrek Rose Dapello Adams Berlin & Dunham.
O’Hara, a well-known playwright and stage director, and Domingo previously worked together in the Public Theater’s 2012 production of Domingo’s “Wild with Happy.” In 2020, O’Hara was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Direction for Slave Game. He is repped by CAA and Weintraub Tobin Chediak Coleman Grodin.
Deadline first reported the news that the film was in development. Disney has not commented.
