A Princess Diaries Producer Is “More Than Hopeful” About The Sequel

Princess Mia Thermopolis is still sitting on her throne in Genovia, and it’s only a matter of time until she graces fans with her presence again. In a new interview with People, Princess Diaries producer Debra Martin Chase gave a new update on the long-awaited third movie, saying she is “more than hopeful” that filming will commence very soon.

Speaking at the Black Women on Broadway Awards, Chase teased that the Princess Diaries 3 team has made a lot of progress in turning the sequel into a reality.

“We are moving in that direction,” she said. “We've done a lot of groundwork. We had hoped to be shooting this year. So, it’s coming. We’re intent upon making it happen. And we're excited that the people are excited. Every time something happens, and we get the thing, it's like, ‘Yay, OK, keep going!’”

While no dates are confirmed for either production or the film’s release just yet, Chase is not the only person who’s set on making it happen. In April, late Princess Diaries director Garry Marshall’s daughter Kathleen confirmed to People that she’s “working on Princess Diaries 3” with the team and hopes that it’s “the next thing” for star Anne Hathaway.

Hathaway is on the same page, admitting to Entertainment Weekly in April that her other long-awaited sequel, The Devil Wears Prada 2, “cropped up unexpectedly and took over the space” from the film. However, she said that, “the intention is to make Princess Diaries hopefully next.”

“One hundred percent, we’re constantly working on it,” she said. “If I learned anything from [Devil Wears Prada 2], it’s that expectations are very, very high, and if you’re going to do it, you have to knock it out of the park.” Even her Devil co-star Meryl Streep agreed, remarking that “You've got to wait for the right script.”

In typical Disney fashion, plot details about The Princess Diaries 3 have been kept under wraps as they keep perfecting the script. However, the film is rumored to follow the story of author Meg Cabot’s 11th Princess Diaries book, Royal Wedding, after director Adele Lim posted an open casting call for the role of Olivia, who’s featured in the novel as Mia’s secret half-sister.

However, if you’re afraid that the sequel will be overtaken by new characters, fret not, as Cabot claimed at New York’s BookCon that more familiar faces will return, including Hathaway’s OG love interests Robert Schwartzman and Chris Pine. As long as Julie Andrews is also there, I’m seated.