Could The Princess Diaries 3 Happen? Mandy Moore Wants Redemption For Lana

It's been almost two decades since The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement gave Mia Thermopolis her foot-popping happy ending with Nicholas, but fans are still clamoring for a return trip to Genovia. The good news? Most of the cast wants to revive the royal franchise, too. In an August appearance on The Drew Barrymore Show, Mandy Moore revealed she's game for The Princess Diaries 3 — and she even has some ideas about what Mia's high school bully Lana might be up to in 2022.

More than anything, Moore wants redemption for Lana. She told Barrymore that her dream future for Lana involves a friendship with Mia. "She's done a 180," the This Is Us star (and soon-to-be mom-of-two!) pitched. "She's turned her life around, and she and Mia become really good friends."

However, Moore hasn't heard any concrete plans for a third movie. "I have no idea," she responded to the host about the possibility of a third movie. But if a new movie ever comes to fruition, it sounds like she would be happy to play a grown-up Lana.

Moore isn't the only Princess Diaries alum who has expressed interest in continuing Mia's story. Everyone from Anne Hathaway to Chris Pine has said they would happily return for The Princess Diaries 3. Now all that's left is for Hollywood to greenlight the movie. Here's everything that's been said about a potential threequel so far.

Is there a Princess Diaries 3 script?

Rumors that a third Princess Diaries movie is in the works have been swirling for years. As recently as 2019, Hathaway confirmed that a script was written. "There is a script for the third movie," she said on an episode of Watch What Happens Live. "There is a script. I want to do it, Julie [Andrews] wants to do it, Debra Martin Chase, our producer, wants to do it. We all really want it to happen."

However, Hathaway did share one caveat: the story will have to be perfect for her to return. "It's just, we don't want to do it unless it's perfect, because we love it just as much as you guys love it," she explained. "It's as important to us as it is to you, and we don't want to deliver anything until it's ready. But we're working on it."

Additionally, Meg Cabot, the author of The Princess Diaries book series, is still optimistic that a movie will come together eventually. In early 2022, the author told Town & Country that Disney is interested in continuing the franchise.

"Hopefully there'll be more about Genovia," Cabot said. "I know Disney's very interested in doing more, but, you know, we just [have to get] the gang back together. It is hard in today's day and age with everybody's busy schedules, and of course COVID is not helping."

Which actors have said they would return for a new Princess Diaries film?

In addition to Hathaway and Moore, Pine, who played Nicholas, has said he would sign on as long as filming didn't take him too far away from his hometown. "If it's in Los Angeles, I'll be there… if it's in L.A. It's my hometown. I have a lot of pride," he said to Extra in March.

The only major holdout from the cast appears to be Julie Andrews, who feels the time to make another film in the series passed after director Garry Marshall died in 2016. "I think it would be too late to do it now," she told The Hollywood Reporter in June. "There was talk of a sequel many, many years ago. But I don't think it ever came to pass. And Garry then did leave us. [For] especially me, it's too far down the line now to go back to it. It's a lovely thought, but I don't think it would probably be possible."

What would The Princess Diaries 3 be about?

If the stars in Genovia align just right and The Princess Diaries 3 happens, there are plenty of ways Mia's story could continue — or the baton could be passed to the next generation. By now, Mia and Nicholas could conceivably have royal youngsters the story could follow, or the movie could take on what it means to be a princess in 2022.

While Mia's story concluded with a royal wedding in Cabot's books, the author has written a spinoff series that could serve as inspiration for a third movie or even a TV series on Disney+. In From the Notebooks of a Middle School Princess, Mia discovers she has a half-sister she never knew about named Olivia. When she shows up on Olivia's doorstep, the tween's entire life changes in an instant — much like Mia's did when she discovered she was a princess.

Since Mia's father died in the movies, it might make more sense for Olivia to be related to Mia in a different way, but the tween angle makes the books a perfect fit for the Disney treatment. Plus, introducing Olivia into the story would make The Princess Diaries 3 nostalgic for original fans and accessible to the next generation of viewers.

Now all that's left is for someone to convince Andrews that Queen Clarisse needs to make one more royal appearance in Genovia for the good of her people... er, make that her fans.