Anne Hathaway says Princess Diaries 3 has restarted with a new story
The actor said on Radio Andy that the sequel’s team found a fresh direction after scrapping the script they had been developing.
By Georgia Hale · Staff Writer
3 min read
Mia Thermopolis is still on the road back to Genovia, but Anne Hathaway says the royal route has changed.
Appearing on SiriusXM’s Radio Andy, Hathaway said the team behind The Princess Diaries 3 has made progress after tossing out the version of the script it had been developing. The actor said they recently reached what she described as a “story breakthrough.”
Hathaway, who was speaking while promoting Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey, also said her own schedule is a factor. “I’m busy making baby number three,” she told host Andy Cohen, adding that it has affected knowing exactly when she can make the third Princess Diaries movie.
On the sequel itself, Hathaway said the project appears to be headed somewhere better, even if fans may not love hearing that the earlier draft is no longer the plan.
“I can say I think we had a story breakthrough,” Hathaway said on the show. She added that the film is “moving in the right direction” and that the script they had been using required a reset because of the new approach.
Hathaway said the team feels encouraged by the change, saying they believe “this is gonna be the one.” No production start date or release date was announced in the interview.
What has been reported about the sequel
Deadline reported in 2024 that Adele Lim was attached to direct the third film in the Princess Diaries series. The report said Flora Greeson was writing the screenplay, with Debra Martin Chase, Naia Cucukov and Melissa Stack listed among the producers.
The update means the movie remains in development, though Hathaway’s comments indicate the creative team has shifted course since that earlier version.
Earlier this year, Hathaway told Entertainment Weekly that work on the sequel was ongoing. She said the team was “constantly working” on it and compared the pressure to another returning fan favorite, The Devil Wears Prada 2.
Hathaway told the outlet that expectations are “very, very high” for a movie like this and said that if the team is going to make it, they need to “knock it out of the park.”
The Genovia backstory
The original Princess Diaries, directed by Garry Marshall, starred Hathaway as Mia Thermopolis, a high school student whose ordinary life changes when her grandmother, played by Julie Andrews, tells her she is heir to the throne of Genovia.
A follow-up, The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement, arrived in 2004. Deadline reported that the two films together earned $300 million worldwide.
Hathaway’s latest comments give fans something concrete after years of waiting: the third movie is still alive, but the crown has been fitted to a new story.
This story draws on original reporting from Deadline.