22-Year-Old Cult Classic Rom-Com Gets an Anne Hathaway-Led Disney+ Adaptation
After 22 years, the cult classic fairytale movie Ella Enchanted, starring Anne Hathaway, is getting a Disney+ TV series adaptation, led by Hathaway herself.
As reported by Deadline, the Ella Enchanted series is currently in the early stages of development, with Hathaway set to executive produce.
Like the movie on which the show is based, the series' story will center on Ella of Frell, a teenage girl who is forced by magic to obey every command given to her-from treacherous commands from villainous figures to accidental commands from family and friends.
As is clear from that premise alone, Ella constantly faces precarious situations (which makes for a brilliant movie and will undoubtedly be equally fascinating to see play out in a show).
However, the new adaptation will apparently be breaking with the movie's Cinderella story approach, opting instead for a coming-of-age tale that is set in a boarding school-a far cry from the epic fairytale adventure that Ella experiences in Hathaway's 2004 movie, complete with dramatic musical numbers.
The adaptation's approach will therefore match, at least in part, a few chapters of the 1997 book of the same name, on which the movie was based.
As also reported by Deadline, the Ella Enchanted series will be written by Ilana Wolpert, with Beth Schwartz as showrunner.
Hathaway is currently having a bit of a renaissance in terms of bringing some of her most beloved stories back to the screen with adaptations and sequels. Just recently, The Devil Wears Prada 2was released in theaters, 20 years after the original movie debuted.
Likewise, a second sequel to Hathaway's fan-favorite 2001 movie The Princess Diaries, The Princess Diaries 3, has officially been in the works since 2024, although progress on that movie seems to be a bit slower, with few updates coming out over the last few years.
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This story was originally published May 19, 2026 at 1:22 PM.