The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Garry Marshall directs. Charles Minsky behind the camera. John Debney scores. Bruce Green cuts. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

• 1Made its money back 3.4× over at the box office.
• 2Released 22 years ago.
• 3Part of the "The Princess Diaries Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
• 4213+ people credited in cast and crew — a small city's worth of labour.
• 5Directed by Garry Marshall, shot by Charles Minsky. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
• 6Original score by John Debney. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
• 7Editor Bruce Green shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
• 8Anne Hathaway and Julie Andrews and Héctor Elizondo carry the top of the cast.
• 9Marketing tagline: "It can take a lifetime to find true love; she's got 30 days!".
• 10IMDB entry: tt0368933 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
• 11Classified under 8 themes, including "coronation", "marriage", "duty", "sequel".

The technical file

Cinematography

Charles Minsky

Original score

John Debney

Editing

Bruce Green

Production design

Albert Brenner

Costume design

Gary Jones

Makeup / hair

Deborah Rutherford

Stunt coordinator

Charlie Brewer

Runtime

113 min · 1h 53m

Aspect ratio (typical)

1.37:1 (Academy)

Status

Released

Budget

$40,000,000

Box office

$134,734,481

Return

337% of budget

Original language

EN

Certification (US)

G

IMDB

The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement (2004) ↗

Rotten Tomatoes

25% 🥫 Rotten

Metacritic

43/100

IMDB rating

5.9/10 · 96,034 votes

MPAA

G

Part of

The Princess Diaries Collection

The Princess Diaries Collection is an American teen romantic comedy sequel, directed by Garry Marshall and written by Gina Wendkos, based on Meg Cabot's 2000 novel of the same name. It stars Anne Hathaway (in her film debut) as Mia Thermopolis, a teenager who discovers that she is the heir to the throne of the fictional Kingdom of Genovia, ruled by her grandmother Queen dowager Clarisse Renaldi (Julie Andrews). The sequel was completed with The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement, released in August 2004.

• 
  The Princess Diaries 3
• 
  The Princess Diaries

  2001
• 
  The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement

  2004 · this one

Also by

Garry Marshall

• 
  The Odd Couple

  1970 · ★ 7.8
• 
  Happy Days

  1974 · ★ 7.6
• 
  Hey Landlord!

  1966 · ★ 7.5
• 
  Pretty Woman

  1990 · ★ 7.4
• 
  Laverne & Shirley

  1976 · ★ 7.1
• 
  Mork & Mindy

  1978 · ★ 7.1

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

• 

  ▶
  Princess Mia Meets Every Eligible Bachelor

  Clip · Official
• 

  ▶
  Mia Gets Off on the Wrong Foot

  Clip · Official
• 

  ▶
  "I Loathe You!"

  Clip · Official
• 

  ▶
  How Chris Pine Was Cast in 'The Princess Diaries 2'

  Featurette · Official
• 

  ▶
  The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement (2004) Trailer #1 | Movieclips Classic Trailers

  Trailer
• 

  ▶
  The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement (2004) Trailer

  Trailer

Community reviews

What people are saying

• Kamurai2020-08-06
  ★ 6/10

  Good watch, could watch again, but can't recommend unless you just really liked the first one. Of all the boring premises, a legal requirement is a really boring choice. Forcing a marriage is not only not relatable for America (Mia's country of origin), but also not exciting to watch Anne Hatheway reject guys and have to settle. And all the while they ignore the obvious solution. There is a lot of fun with the idea of a American princess just having fun with a lot of resources, and touching bits with her using her power for good. Sadly, again, the movie doesn't feel like it does anything special, despite all the "pizazz" they layer on. Again, it's good, but it is weaker than the original, and unless you have the background of that movie, you're not missing anything by skipping this one.

  Read full review ↓
• r96sk2020-10-13
  ★ 7/10

  Just as slow as the original, but I'd argue it's a better film overall. There isn't much between the two films, I admit. However, I found <em>'The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement'</em> more enjoyable than <em>'The Princess Diaries'</em>. The plot is probably just as interesting, but there's less cringe in this one and the villains are a big improvement. Anne Hathaway (Mia) is very good once more, while Julie Andrews (Clarisse) does solid things again. John Rhys-Davies (Mabrey) and Chris Pine (Nicholas) are top additions, great casting on the latter by the way given it's Pine's feature film debut. I also said in my review of the 2001 film that I don't like fictional places in live-action, non-fantasy productions. That's still the case here, but I didn't actually mind it all that much to be honest. "Genovia" is way more believable here, thanks to us actually getting to see it for real - as opposed to it just being referenced. As noted, there are still a few cringey moments and it does run too long. There are some sweets parts, though. It's also kinda weird that, technically, Mia and Nicholas are related; a number of generations back sure, but still... A sequel that (minorly) improves on its predecessor, that's always a positive in my book.

  Read full review ↓

Production companies

Who made it

• BR

  BrownHouse Productions

  US

• 

  Walt Disney Pictures

  US

Key crew

• ProducerWhitney Houston
• EditorBruce Green
• ProducerMario Iscovich
• Executive ProducerEllen H. Schwartz
• ProducerDebra Martin Chase
• Makeup ArtistDeborah Rutherford
• OrchestratorMike Watts
• Costume DesignGary Jones
• Key Hair StylistCarolyn Elias
• HairstylistCarol Pershing
• Casting DirectorDonna Morong
• Unit Production ManagerMargaret Hilliard
• Set DecorationPeg Cummings
• Art DirectionAdrian Gorton
• Production DesignAlbert Brenner
• Makeup DesignerHallie D'Amore
• Casting DirectorGail Goldberg
• Co-ProducerDavid Scharf
• Art DirectionJack G. Taylor Jr.
• Casting DirectorMarcia Ross
• CharactersMeg Cabot
• Second Unit DirectorScott Marshall
• First Assistant DirectorEllen H. Schwartz
• Music SupervisorDawn Solér

Themes & keywords

What it's about, really

• coronation
• marriage
• duty
• sequel
• falling in love
• calm
• romantic
• audacious

Release history · US

When it landed

• Theatrical2004-08-06G

Also known as

International titles

• Neveletlen hercegnő 2.HU
• The Princess Diaries 2 - Royal EngagementUS
• The Princess Diaries 2: A Royal EngagementUS
• Щоденники принцеси 2UA
• Щоденники принцеси 2: Як стати королевоюUA
• יומני הנסיכה 2IL
• Deník princezny 2: Královské povinnostiCZ
• Şahzadənin Gündəliyi: Krallıq NişanıAZ