Freakier Fridayhas been a moderate box office success for Disney, pulling in over $43.8 million since its release on August 8. Given its prime summer release date and ongoing competition with movies likeThe Naked GunandThe Bad Guys 2, this is a very impressive performance.Freakier Friday’s commercial successcan only be a good sign for more original movie sequels at Disney.
Although theFreakier Fridayendingdoesn’t explicitly tease a sequel,there’s every chance that another installment could be on the cardsif the movie turns over a considerable profit. While this would certainly be exciting, the even more tantalizing prospect is thatFreakier Fridaytriggers a trend ofotherDisney original movies getting legacy sequels.
Disney Needs To Make Princess Diaries 3 Next
After the huge success ofFreakier Friday, it seems only logical that Disney should start looking for their next early 2000s original property to bring back for another spin. If the studio does continue with this trend,The Princess Diariesseems like the most likely (and profitable) candidate. The most recent sequel,The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement, was released in 2004.
AsFreakier Fridayhas already proven, it’s been the perfect amount of time for audiences to have developed nostalgia for the original propertywithoutletting it feel old or outdated.Anne Hathaway is just as popular today as she was two decades ago, and there’s no doubt she’d be able to get audiences to come out in droves for a newPrincess Diariessequel.
Incidentally,Princess Diaries 3was confirmed back in 2022, butthere’s been very little development on the project since then. It’s possible that Disney has shelved the sequel in order to make room for more mainstream projects; neither Julie Andrews nor Chris Pine have seemingly been approached to help get the project off the ground.
Thankfully,Freakier Fridaygives Disney the perfect excuse to finally getPrincess Diaries 3into development.The studio now has definitive proof that early 2000s reboots can be commercial successes, andThe Princess Diarieswas always just as popular asFreaky Friday. The original film grossed $165 million upon release, compared withFreaky Friday’s $160 million.
Not to mention,Hathaway’s careerhas been on an upwards trajectory ever sinceThe Princess Diarieswas first released. She’s starred in several huge blockbusters and acclaimed indie movies, even securing a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her work inLes Misérables. Her upcoming work onThe Devil Wears Prada 2andVeritynext year makes this the perfect opportunity to capitalize on her popularity.
