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The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement

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The Princess Diaries 2:
Royal Engagement
Theatrical release poster
Directed byGarry Marshall
Screenplay byShonda Rhimes
Story by
  • Shonda Rhimes
  • Gina Wendkos
Based onCharacters
by Meg Cabot
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyCharles Minsky
Edited byBruce Green
Music byJohn Debney
Production
companies
Distributed byBuena Vista Pictures Distribution
Release date
  • August 11, 2004 (2004-08-11)
Running time
113 minutes[1]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$45 million[2]
Box office$134.7 million[3][4]

The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement is a 2004 American romantic comedy film directed by Garry Marshall. Produced by Walt Disney Pictures, it is the sequel to 2001's The Princess Diaries. Unlike the first film, it is not based on any existing book, and has no relation to the second installment in the book series, The Princess Diaries, Volume II: Princess in the Spotlight. In the film, Mia Thermopolis learns that before she can succeed her grandmother as queen of Genovia, she must marry or else relinquish the throne.

Most of the cast returned from the first film, including Julie Andrews, Anne Hathaway, Héctor Elizondo, Heather Matarazzo, and Larry Miller. Garry Marshall returned to direct and Debra Martin Chase and Whitney Houston to produce. New characters include Viscount Mabrey (John Rhys-Davies), Lord Nicholas Devereaux (Chris Pine, in his film debut), and Andrew Jacoby (Callum Blue).

The film grossed over $134 million worldwide and received mixed reviews from critics. A sequel is currently in development.

Plot

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Five years after the first film, Mia Thermopolis graduates from Woodrow Wilson School of International Affairs at Princeton University, returning to Genovia. There, she awaits her grandmother, Queen Clarisse's abdication. Dancing with all eligible bachelors at her 21st birthday party to find a husband, she meets a dashing young gentleman named Nicholas, and the two become mutually attracted. During the evening, Mia's tiara falls off, caught by Member of Parliament (MP), Viscount Mabrey, who secretly plans to steal the crown.

During the Parliamentary session the next morning, Mia hears Mabrey revealing his nephew, Lord Devereaux, to be the next male heir to the throne. By law, Mia can only be queen if she marries within the month. Clarisse invites Lord Devereaux to stay at the palace, and Mia is shocked to discover he is Nicholas. Her best friend, Lilly Moscovitz, surprises her with a visit. Together, they look through potential husbands. Mia eventually chooses Andrew Jacoby, Duke of Kenilworth, and days later, they are engaged. Mabrey plans to have Nicholas seduce Mia so the engagement will fail. Joe, the royal family's head of security, tries to persuade Clarisse to publicly pursue their feelings for each other as her days as queen is coming to an end.

Mia has to ride sidesaddle for a ceremony but is inexperienced, so Clarisse provides an ancestral wooden leg decoy so it seems she's doing so. When Mabrey spooks Mia's horse with a rubber snake, Joe inadvertently tears off the wooden leg. Humiliated, she flees to the stables, where Nicholas fails to comfort her. At a garden party, Mia and Nicholas quarrel about her relationship with Andrew. As they argue, he kisses her. At first, she kisses him back but then backs away. Pursuing her, they fall into a fountain. Clarisse tells Mia that her behavior with Nicholas has to stop.

At the Genovian Independence Day parade, seeing some boys harassing a little girl, Mia abruptly halts the parade to help. Learning the girl, Carolina, and the others are orphans, she has a vendor give them all tiaras and lets them walk with her in the parade. Everyone is impressed, while Mabrey sees it as a political maneuver. Nicholas is also struck by Mia's care for Genovia and begins doubting taking over the throne. Mia later declares the conversion of a royal palace into a temporary children's center.

At Mia's bachelorette slumber party, princesses attend from around the world. They mattress surf and sing karaoke. Meanwhile, Nicholas tries to stop his uncle from pursuing the throne as Mia is doing well as a ruler. Mabrey realizes Nicholas has fallen for her, but believes Mia will never love him. Mabrey encourages him to pursue her, later revealing to his surly and mistreated housekeeper Gretchen he plans to let this ruin Mia's chances of becoming queen. Manipulating Nicholas, he makes him believe it was his late father's wish for him to become king. Nicholas helps Mia succeed at hitting the target as she is practicing for her coronation rites. He tells her he is leaving, but asks to see her once more before he goes. She declines, as she is under close guard.

That night, Nicholas convinces Mia outside her window, to sneak out. By a lake, they share secrets, dance, and eventually fall asleep. They awaken to find a man filming them. Mia thinks Nicholas set her up, while he insists he had no idea. The scandalous footage is already being broadcast before she returns. Disappointed, Andrew kisses Mia to see if there is a romantic spark between them. There isn't, but they do not call off the wedding for the good of Genovia. The wedding is the following day, and Mia's mother, Helen, comes with her new husband Patrick O'Connell, and their newborn son named Trevor. Nicholas decides against attending until Gretchen tells him Mabrey engineered the televised scandal.

Before the wedding, Joe tells Mia that Nicholas is innocent. Walking down the aisle, she suddenly stops and runs out of the church. Clarisse follows and Mia says she doesn't want to be forced to marry. Clarisse encourages her to follow her heart, something she never did, costing her Joe, the love of her life. Returning to the church, Mia points out to everyone that her unmarried (widowed) grandmother has ruled Genovia for many years, asking the members of parliament to reconsider the law, and asking them if they would force the significant women in their lives to marry without love. Mabrey again suggests his nephew be named king instead, but Nicholas appears, refusing the crown. Mia proposes the law on royal marriages be abolished, and the Parliament unanimously assents. Clarisse proposes to Joe and they are promptly married.

A week later, Mia is preparing for her coronation when Nicholas arrives. Professing his love on bended knees, they kiss. The next day, Clarisse steps down, and Mia is crowned "Her Majesty Amelia Mignonette Thermopolis Renaldi, Queen of Genovia", with all in attendance in the palace.

An epilogue shows the Genovian Parliament now allows female members, one of whom is Charlotte (Clarisse's lady-in-waiting). In a final scene, Queen Mia officially opens a new children's home with Carolina.

Cast

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Reception

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The film opened in 3,472 theaters in North America and grossed $23 million in its opening weekend. It grossed $134.7 million worldwide—$95.2 million in North America and $39.6 million in other territories.[5]

Critical response

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Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports that 26% of 120 critic reviews are "fresh" (positive), and the average rating is 4.6/10. The site's critical consensus is that "Anne Hathaway and Julie Andrews bring charm and elegance to the movie, but there's not enough material for them to work with in this sequel."[6] At Metacritic, the film has an average score of 43/100 from the 31 reviews, which indicates "mixed or average" reception.[7]

The film's writer, Shonda Rhimes, later said that she treasured the experience if for nothing else – the opportunity to work with its star, Julie Andrews.[8] Andrews was later cast as the voice of Lady Whistledown in Rhimes' 2020 series, Bridgerton.[9]

Soundtrack

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Main article: The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement (soundtrack)

The song, "Your Crowning Glory", a duet between Queen Clarisse (Julie Andrews) and Princess Asana (Raven-Symoné) was the first time Andrews had sung in public or on screen since she had throat surgery in 1997.[10]

Home media

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The film was released in DVD and VHS on December 14, 2004. The film was released as part of a Blu-ray and DVD double feature with The Princess Diaries on May 15, 2012.

Sequel

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In March 2016, Garry Marshall announced plans for a third Princess Diaries film, with Hathaway reprising her role.[11] When Marshall died in July 2016, the project was shelved indefinitely.[12] In August of the same year, Hector Elizondo discussed the development of the third installment stating, "I know Anne would like to do it. I know Julie would like to do it. I would like to do it. So we're on board, it's a question of when and a question of getting a good story. I'm ready! It's time to go back to Genovia!"[13]

In May 2018, Anne Hathaway stated that she would still like to appear in a third Princess Diaries film.[12] By January 2019, she confirmed that a script was completed, that she and Andrews were on board to co-star in the film, and that producer Debra Martin Chase would return. She further stated that the film would not enter production until "it's perfect."[14]

On November 15, 2022, it was revealed that Disney was moving forward with a third Princess Diaries film. Though not confirmed to appear, the company is reportedly interested in bringing Hathaway back.[15] The following month, Andrews said that she did not see herself returning for a third film.[16] In April 2024, Hathaway revealed that development talks surrounding the sequel were "in a good place" but that there were no further announcements to be made yet.[17] In October 2024, Adele Lim had signed on as the film's director and Hathaway announced she would reprise the role of Mia.[18][19]

References

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  1. ^ "The Princess Diaries 2 - Royal Engagement (U)". British Board of Film Classification. August 18, 2004. Retrieved December 3, 2023.
  2. ^ "The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement (2004)". The Numbers. Retrieved May 8, 2020.
  3. ^ "The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved October 10, 2008.
  4. ^ "Spencer Breslin - Box Office". The Numbers.
  5. ^ "The Princess Diaries". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved June 18, 2015.
  6. ^ "The Princess Diaries 2 - Royal Engagement (2004)". Rotten Tomatoes. Flixster. Retrieved October 11, 2020.
  7. ^ "The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement Reviews, Ratings, Credits and More at Metacritic". Metacritic. CNET Networks. Retrieved March 31, 2012.
  8. ^ "Shonda Rhimes - Biography and Filmography - 1970". Hollywood.com. Archived from the original on November 12, 2007. Retrieved April 1, 2021.
  9. ^ Haylock, Zoe (July 10, 2019). "Julie Andrews Will Voice a 19th-Century Gossip in Shonda Rhimes's Netflix Series". Vulture. Retrieved April 1, 2021.
  10. ^ Bob, Thomas (March 18, 2004). "Julie Andrews to sing in 'Diaries 2'". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on March 6, 2021. Retrieved March 6, 2021.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  11. ^ "Director Garry Marshall confirms Anne Hathaway is ready to film Princess Diaries 3". Metro.co.uk. March 14, 2016. Retrieved March 16, 2016.
  12. ^ a b "Anne Hathaway says it felt good to play bad in Ocean's 8". Entertainment Weekly. May 29, 2018. Retrieved May 30, 2018. Yeah, I'm game if Disney's game. I think there's more life in that story. We were talking about it and then we lost [director] Garry Marshall, and I think we all just needed to walk away for a while because the grief was too fresh. We haven't restarted the conversation yet but I still have hope in my heart that it could happen.
  13. ^ "'The Princess Diaries 3' Could Still Happen, According to Hector Elizondo". Movie Fone. Retrieved August 25, 2016.
  14. ^ "Anne Hathaway says 'we're working on' a third Princess Diaries film". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved January 25, 2019.
  15. ^ "The Princess Diaries 3 is Happening at Disney". November 15, 2022.
  16. ^ "Julie Andrews Says 'It's Probably Not Going to Be Possible' for Her to Star in 'Princess Diaries 3'". People. December 11, 2022. Retrieved October 4, 2024.
  17. ^ "Anne Hathaway Says 'The Princess Diaries 3' Development 'Is in a Good Place,' but 'There's Nothing to Announce Yet'". April 25, 2024.
  18. ^ "Disney's 'Princess Diaries 3' Gets Royal Treatment, Sets Adele Lim As Director". Deadline Hollywood. October 4, 2024.
  19. ^ "Anne Hathaway Confirms Return for 'Princess Diaries 3' With Director Adele Lim". Variety. October 4, 2024.
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