Originally released in 2004 and based on Gail Carson Levine’s novel, Ella Enchanted became a distinctive entry in early-2000s fantasy cinema, with Anne Hathaway starring as a young woman cursed with uncontrollable obedience in a whimsical kingdom mixing romance, satire and fairy-tale tropes.
Now, the property is reportedly being revisited for television at Disney+, with a new series in development and Hathaway attached as executive producer, signaling a potential return to the story that helped define one of her early breakout roles.
Ella Enchanted Returns as Disney+ Develops New Series
More than two decades after its theatrical release, Ella Enchanted is reportedly returning in a new form, with Disney+ developing a television adaptation of Gail Carson Levine’s fantasy novel.
The original 2004 film, directed by Tommy O’Haver and starring Anne Hathaway as Ella, reimagined the classic fairy-tale framework through a comedic and musical lens, telling the story of a young woman cursed with obedience who struggles to reclaim autonomy in a kingdom filled with magic, political intrigue and satirical twists.
While the film underperformed at the box office at the time, it gradually built a strong cult following, especially among viewers drawn to its unconventional tone and early-2000s fantasy aesthetic.
The new project marks a notable return to that world, this time for television. According to early reports, the series is in development for Disney+, with Anne Hathaway attached as an executive producer.
Her involvement connects the revival directly to the original adaptation, which has long been associated with her early breakout years in Hollywood. The move also places Ella Enchanted within a broader industry trend of revisiting nostalgic fantasy properties and reshaping them for serialized streaming formats, where longer narratives allow for expanded world-building and character exploration.
While details about plot, casting, or creative direction remain undisclosed, the premise opens the door to a deeper reinterpretation of the source material — one that could revisit Ella’s world with a more modern tone, potentially expanding beyond the romantic fairy-tale structure of the original film.
In that sense, the project arrives not simply as a remake, but as a reactivation of a story that has lingered in pop culture memory for years, now being repositioned for a new streaming-era audience.
