Viral Live-Action ‘Frozen’ Starring Emilia Clarke as Elsa Explained

From Mother of Dragons to Queen of Arendelle, Emilia Clarke can be seen as the Frozen franchise’s Elsa in a viral new trailer.

Disney and Frozen

It’s hard to believe that Frozen (2013) is 11 years old this November. The blockbuster musical epic forever changed The Walt Disney Company, becoming the studio’s highest-grossing animated movie. It wasn’t until Frozen II (2019) came out six years later that the record would be broken.

The tale of two sisters, Princess Anna (Kristen Bell) and Queen Elsa (Idina Menzel), a flurry of smash-hit songs by Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez, including “Let It Go,” and a handful of loveable supporting characters like Olaf the Snowman (Josh Gad), Frozen continues to be one of the most beloved entries ever released in the Disney animated canon.

There is so much love, in fact, that a third and fourth Frozen movie have been announced.

Frozen III was revealed upon Bob Iger’s return to the House of Mouse as Chief Executive Officer. Iger shared that new movies in the Toy Story and Frozen franchises and a sequel to Zootopia (2016) were on the way.

This came after the studio struggled to make noise in 2022, with Lightyear (2022) and Strange World (2022) both flopping at the box office.

Times have changed, though. In the last 12 months, Disney Pixar’s Elemental (2023) became a sleeper hit for the studio, while this year’s Inside Out 2 (2024) crossed the $1 billion mark at the global box office just a couple of weeks after its debut in theaters.

Next up for Disney will be November’s Moana 2 (2024). The surprise announcement of a second Moana movie came so soon, earlier this year. The sequel is reworked from a Disney+ TV show and will see the return of both Auliʻi Cravalho and Dwayne Johnson as Moana and Maui, respectively.

Looking ahead, there is no confirmed release date for Frozen III or Frozen IV. However, Disney does hold an open slot in November 2025 and November 2026. The Frozen movies have historically been released in the winter months later in the year, so these are likely possibilities for the animated film.

Following Frozen III‘s announcement in February 2023, Iger shared that a fourth movie would also be made during the opening event for Hong Kong Disneyland’s World of Frozen.

Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee directed both Frozen and Frozen II, based on the latter’s screenplay. Lee said last year that work had commenced on the third entry in the franchise.

“Every morning last week, they carved out space for me to work with the creative team on it, and I am blown away, and I am so excited,” Lee told the audience at the British Film Institute London Film Festival in late 2023 (via Variety).

Lee added: “I don’t know what I’m doing on it yet — I’m not doing nothing — except doing what I do now, which is we work on every project as a team, and I’m in there with creative. But with Frozen, just a little bit more.”

Related: ‘Frozen 4’ Will Change Disney Princesses Forever

With more animated sequels ready to join the first two billion-dollar movies and Disney’s expanding live-action slate, could the Mouse House eventually develop a new adaptation of Frozen?

Nothing has been announced yet, but one fan has taken it into their own hands, bringing Elsa to life with Game of Thrones and Marvel star Emilia Clarke.

Live-Action Frozen

KH Studio posted a homemade trailer to YouTube featuring Emila Clarke as Queen Elsa. The video has amassed over 1.1 million views, making it a viral sensation.

The creator is well-known for sharing trailers for unreleased/fictional movies, having created other viral hits like Pirates of the Caribbean 6: Beyond the Horizon, featuring Johnny Depp and Jenna Ortega, as well as Jurassic World 4: Extinction with Bryce Dallas Howard.

As for the live-action Frozen trailer, KH Studio showcases Anna and Elsa’s home, the Kingdom of Arendelle, while also including clips of a deep-faked Emilia Clarke as Elsa herself. Watch the trailer here:

Of course, this wouldn’t be the first time that Frozen has been made live-action. During the run of Once Upon a Time, the huge fairytale and Disney-inspired live-action ABC TV show, both Anna and Elsa appeared, played by Georgina Haig and Elizabeth Lail, respectively. Scott Michael Foster also starred as Kristoff (Jonathan Groff played the character in animation).

The Frozen characters first appeared in Once Upon a Time Season 4 back in 2014.

Related: Major New ‘Frozen’ Franchise Changes Explained

Next up in the live-action canon is Barry Jenkins’ Mufasa: The Lion King (2024), with Marc Webb’s divisive Snow White coming next March, one year after it was originally slated to be released. Further in the future, Disney will bring Moana back to the big screen in a new live-action adaptation starring Dwayne Johnson.

Would you like to see a live-action Frozen sometime soon? Let us know in the comments down below!