Enchanted 2 Moves Forward With New Writers

I have no qualms about admitting that I absolutely loved Enchanted. Filled with incredibly catchy musical numbers (“That’s How You Know” and “Happy Working Song” spring most to mind), hilarious characters, a remarkably self-aware script and a winningly upbeat spirit, it was one of the most plainly fun movies of 2007.

Of course, when the film came out, there was talk of a sequel, but nothing ever really came together. As a big fan of Enchanted, I thought maybe that was a good thing. After all, the story wasn’t exactly conducive to a follow-up, and I didn’t want there to be any chance that an inferior sequel could in any way diminish the spell cast by the original. In a post-Frozen world, however, it appears that there’s new interest in Enchanted 2.

Today brings news that J. David Stern and David N. Weiss have been hired by Disney to write the script for the sequel. They’re working from an earlier draft by Jessie Nelson. The duo have a great deal of experience working on kid-friendly projects, having written such films as The Rugrats Movie, Clockstoppers, Shrek 2, The Smurfs and The Smurfs 2. Part of Enchanted‘s charm was that its script was versatile enough to appeal to both adults and younger viewers, so hopefully Stern and Weiss’s kid-heavy resume doesn’t mean Disney’s planning to tone things down for the sequel.

Anne Fletcher (The Proposal) has been attached to direct Enchanted 2 for some time now, but none of the original cast members are yet signed on. Whether or not Disney will be able to rope in Amy Adams (riding high on a wave of awards buzz for Tim Burton’s Big Eyes), James Marsden (now back in the X-Men franchise), Patrick Dempsey (still on Grey’s Anatomy) and Idina Menzel (in a Broadway show called If/Then) remains to be seen – but my money is on not all of those actors, if any, returning. Still, it would be hard to imagine Enchanted 2 without Adams’ Princess Giselle, so I’d hope Disney’s willing to wait until the actress is game. Here’s hoping the script gives her motivation to come back.