Disney has ventured into developing a live-action fairy tale film Sadé which will be centered on an African princess. The news came out after Disney released its live-action adaptation of Beauty and the Beast, and announced the upcoming remakes of The Lion King and Mulan.
The film will be produced by Rick Famuyiwa who had directed Dope. The story revolves around the princess who discovers her magical powers and protects the people of her kingdom which is threatened by a mysterious evil force. With the help of the kingdom’s prince, Sadé embarks on an adventure that will allow her to embrace what makes her special and save the kingdom.
Along with Famuwiya, Scott Falconer will be the executive producer through their Verse production banner. The director is not yet declared and Tendo Nagenda and Zoe Kent will be overseeing the project for the studio. Ola Shokunbi and Lindsey Reed Palmer will co-write the screenplay.
The studio’s animated comedy released in 2009 The Princess and the Frog which was also centered on a young girl whose dream was of owning her own restaurant. It was a great success and grossed around $265 million worldwide. Another was Blank Panther which had worldwide box office grosses hitting $1.35 billion. This will be Disney’s first African princess fairytale movie. Sadé will join princess Tiana from The Princess and the Frog and princess Shuri from Black Panther as leading black female characters in the Disney universe. Recently, it was revealed that princess Shuri is receiving a spin-off book series.