Adele Lim is aware of the pressure. The Princess Diaries is not just a film franchise — it is a genuine cultural artifact for an entire generation of women, many of whom are now in their 30s and carrying a level of investment in Mia Thermopolis that borders on the personal. At the Gold Gala carpet in June 2026, Lim — whose credits include co-writing Crazy Rich Asians and directing Joy Ride — spoke to multiple outlets, including Variety and E! News, about the progress of Princess Diaries 3 and what she's trying to do with it.
"We just want to make the story right because it is a franchise that is so beloved by so many people," she told Variety. That instinct toward care — toward not rushing something that matters — is apparent in how Lim speaks about the project: deliberately, with evident respect for what she's been handed.
The Creative Vision: Queens, Not Princesses
The clearest thing Lim has communicated about the film's direction is its thematic shift. The original Princess Diaries (2001) and its sequel (2004) were fundamentally coming-of-age stories — a girl discovering she is royalty and learning to inhabit that identity. Princess Diaries 3 catches Mia Thermopolis (Anne Hathaway) as Queen of Genovia, a fully realized adult woman in full power.
"There are so many movies that are wish fulfillment for princesses," Lim told E! News. "We don't have a lot of wish fulfillment movies for queens. That's what we are setting out to do here — to show a woman in her full power." The framing is deliberate and her motherhood, she noted, directly informed how she thinks about this story: "It shifted the narrative from being about a young girl to a more mature woman."
Original Cast Returns
One of the most discussed elements of the announcement — and the detail most likely to drive fan enthusiasm — is Lim's confirmation that original cast members will return. "Fans can look forward to a lot of fun returns," she told Variety, declining to specify which cast members beyond Hathaway. The film will be set primarily in the fictional kingdom of Genovia, with international location shooting in Europe "to really show the audience Genovia in its full glory," Lim said.
The fate of a Julie Andrews return — her character Queen Clarisse was central to both original films — has been the most-discussed open question among fans. Lim did not address it directly in her June remarks.
"We're not just revisiting a beloved story. We're asking what that woman looks like now — when she's fully in her power and has no apologies left to make."— Adele Lim, via Variety, June 2026
Who Is Adele Lim?
Adele Lim is a Malaysian-born screenwriter and director who co-wrote the screenplay for Crazy Rich Asians (2018) and made her directorial debut with Joy Ride (2023), a raucous road-trip comedy that earned strong reviews. She is also executive-producing a Crazy Rich Asians sequel series currently in development at HBO, which she describes as a venue to explore the story's supporting characters in greater depth than the feature films allowed.
What's Next
A shooting schedule and release date for Princess Diaries 3 have not been confirmed as of publication, though Lim indicated production planning is active. Follow LoudDrip for the latest film and celebrity interview coverage.
