Colman Domingo may have a special date with a princess and a frog….
The 56-year-old Emmy-winning Belizean-Guatemalan American actor and activist, who recently earned two Emmy nominations, is reportedly considering co-writing an original live-action feature about Princess Tiana inspired by Disney’s animated 2009 feature The Princess and the Frog.
The two-time Oscar nominee will reportedly co-pen the feature with 2020 Tony Award-nominated Slave Play directorRobert O’Hara.
It’s still early days on the project, particularly as far as deals go.
Princess and the Frog was the last hand-drawn animated feature from Disney, released in 2009 and directed by John Musker and Ron Clements.
Set in New Orleans during the 1920s and based on E.D. Baker’s The Frog Princess, the film follows a waitress, Tiana (Anika Noni Rose), who dreams of opening her own restaurant. She’s set on turning a frog prince, Naveen, back into a human after he’s cursed by an evil voodoo witch doctor, Facilier. However, Tiana becomes a frog as well, and the couple must find a way to become human again.
Two-time Oscar winner Randy Newman wrote the score and songs, one of the most toe-tapping tunes from the film being Tiana’s “Almost There.”
Domingo and O’Hara’s take is being billed as a spinoff of the animated feature rather than a full-on adaptation, similar to the live-action Beauty and the Beast project that’s in the works, Gaston.
Princess and the Frog grossed $267 million at the worldwide box office when it was released and was nominated for three Oscars: Best Animated Feature and for two of Newman’s songs, “Almost There” and “Down in New Orleans.”
Other live-action adaptations of Disney animated films in the works are Tangled, currently shooting under the direction of Michael Gracey with Kathryn Hahn, Diego Luna, Milo Manheim and Teagan Croft attached to star.
There’s also Stepsisters, a Cinderella spinoff directed by Akiva Schaffer; Lilo & Stitch 2 from filmmaker Chris Sanders; and Impossible Creatures, based on the fantasy series by Katherine Rundell.
Domingo wrote the book for 2018’s Summer: The Donna Summer Musical and co-produced 2023’s Fat Ham, a modern take of William Shakespeare’s Hamlet that was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Play. Other theatrical works by Domingo include the play The Brother(s), the libretto for Lights Out: Nat “King” Cole, as well as the plays Dot, Wild With Happy, A Boy and His Soul and Up Jumped Springtime.
Domingo’s double Emmy nominations this year are for Comedy Series Supporting Actor for Netflix’s Four Seasons and Guest Actor Drama Series for HBO’s Euphoria. He’s already won a Guest Actor in a Drama Seriestrophy in 2022 for Euphoria.
He was nominated for two Best Actor Oscars back-to-back, for 2024’s Rustin and 2025’s Sing Sing.
