Chris Hemsworth in talks to play Disney’s Prince Charming in film from Paddington, Wonka director

The Nightly

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2 hours ago

Chris Hemsworth is reportedly in talks to play one of Disney’s most famous princes in a movie to be directed by the filmmaker behind Paddington and Wonka. Credit: John Phillips/Getty Images for Paramount Pictu

For many fans, Chris Hemsworth is already a prince. But he could soon be an official Disney royal.

According to Deadline, the Australian actor is in talks to play Prince Charming in an in-development movie to be centred on the character.

Prince Charming’s origins in the Disney universe date specifically back to Cinderella. Other princes in films including Sleeping Beauty and Snow White have been credited as “Prince” rather than “Prince Charming”.

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That being said, Deadline wrote its sources claimed the upcoming film will not be directly connected to Cinderella.

The film is set to be directed by Paul King, who made Paddington, Paddington 2 and last year’s Wonka origin story starring Timothee Chalamet. King will co-write the screenplay with Simon Farnaby (The Mighty Boosh, Paddington 2) and Jon Croker (No One Gets Out Alive).

Prince Charming and Cinderella. — The one and only Prince Charming (and Cinderella). Credit: Disney

Given King’s cinematic history, Prince Charming is likely to be a broadly appealing and potentially comedic take on one of the most shallow stock characters in fairytale history: the man who’s always there to be a saviour or love interest but lacks any interiority of his own.

Prince Charming was a specific character in Once Upon a Time, a TV series that was broadcast on the American channel ABC, which is owned by Disney.

The show mixed characters from Disney’s fairytale films to create a world where Snow White battled with Rumpelstiltskin, Captain Hook was an anti-hero and Maleficent was frenemies with Cruella de Vil and Ursula.

In that version, Prince Charming was played by Josh Dallas, and he was married to Snow White rather than Cinderella.

In the 2015 live-action version of Cinderella, the character was renamed Prince Kit and was portrayed by Richard Madden.

Prince Charming will be a departure from Hemsworth’s most recent live-action release, Furiosa, in which he played the main villain Dementus, a post-apocalyptic wannabe warlord.

Hemsworth has also previously played fairytale-adjacent roles, having portrayed the Huntsman in Snow White and the Huntsman and The Huntsman: Winter’s War.