If you smell nostalgia in the air, it’s likely because Ella Enchanted, the 2004 fairy tale film starring a young Anne Hathaway, is getting a TV series adaptation at Disney+. According to Deadline, Anne Hathaway is executive producing the potential series, which is written by Ilana Wolpet (Anyone But You), with Ben Schwartz (Dead Boy Detectives) as showrunner, with co-production by Miramax Television and Paramount Television Studios.
In the original Tommy O’Haver-directed fantasy film, 16-year-old Ella (Hathaway) is under a spell to be constantly obedient, a fact she must hide from her new stepfamily to protect the prince of the land, her friend for whom she is falling in love. The would-be TV series adaptation sticks to the same premise as the book by Gail Carson Levine. However, the series will present the tale as a coming-of-age story set in a boarding school. Four chapters in Levine’s novel chronicle Ella’s stay at a boarding-style finishing school for girls. While there, other girls bully Ella relentlessly. Still, she also finds her best friend, so it’s not all bad. The boarding school storyline gives the new Ella Enchanted TV series a Wednesday-like vibe.
“Like so many of you, I was introduced to Disney as a child, learning how to dream and tell stories,” Hathaway said when she opened Disney’s upfront presentation last week. “Playing Mia in Princess Diaries became this magical portal that opened up my whole life and now with the Devil Wears Prada franchise; these two films that have shaped my career the most are at the same wonderful home, and I am so honored to be a part of the family.”
Anne Hathaway currently stars in two movies now playing in theaters, The Devil Wears Prada 2 and Mother Mary. The first is a sequel to the 2006 showbiz drama starring Meryl Streep (read our review here), while Mother Mary is a costume drama thriller from David Lowrey. In Mother Mary, long-buried wounds rise to the surface when iconic pop star Mother Mary reunites with her estranged best friend and former costume designer, Sam Anselm, on the eve of her comeback performance.