Chris Hemsworth could be Disney’s next Prince Charming, to be directed by Wonka’s Paul King and with no Cinderella attached

Disney’s efforts to bring its animated classics to live-action have been hit-and-miss at the box office, but the hits have been huge enough to keep the tradition going. Planning ahead, the company is now setting its sights on a Prince Charming movie to be directed by Paddington and Wonka’s Paul King, and Chris Hemsworth could be the star attached.

Deadline shared the news on October 23, stating the project is being fast-tracked at Disney from a script co-written by Simon Farnaby (Paddington 2), Jon Croker (No One Gets Out Alive), and King himself.

For obvious reasons, Hemsworth remains a big name at Disney, and while he could be part of Avengers: Doomsday‘s lineup next year, it seems that his schedule would allow him to shoot this sooner rather than later.

This raises the question (once again) of whether Hemsworth is ‘box office poison’ outside of his Marvel flicks or just unlucky with his non-Thor projects. This year alone, both Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga and Transformers One flopped terribly despite strong IP recognition and Hemsworth spearheading their respective casts.

On the other hand, Paul King would join the Disney family still riding the high of last year’s Wonka at Warner Bros. Pictures, which grossed over $600 million worldwide and firmly convinced both critics and fans of the character. His post-Paddington era (he’s not directing the third installment) so far seems squarely focused on family-friendly, colorful projects, so it’s hard to argue against him grabbing a big bag of money from Disney to try and reinvent Prince Charming on the big screen.

Details on the project haven’t surfaced, but Deadline’s sources claim “the film will not specifically be linked to Cinderella,” which could potentially help it stand apart from the 2015 Cinderella reimagining directed by Kenneth Branagh. Looking at King’s previous works, the fact he’s working on the script alongside Paddington veterans, and Chris Hemsworth’s strong comedic chops and current age, what if we’re looking at a midlife crisis take on the character? That could be refreshing.

By the way, if you’re more of a Tyler Rake fan, producers Joe and Anthony Russo (now putting the finishing touches on The Electric State before returning to Marvel) have confirmed that Extraction 3 is prepping to shoot next year, so Hemsworth’s immediate future is looking rather busy.