Production
A sequel to the 2017 anime television series Princess Principal was announced in April 2018, which would comprise six films. Masaki Tachibana, who directed the series, and chief producer Atsushi Yukawa agreed on the sequel being in film format because doing it as another television series would be "physically demanding". Ayaka Imamura, who voiced Ange in the series, announced her retirement in June 2018 due to declining health. The production staff and committee collaborated with her talent agency With Line to begin auditions for the role. The film series received its full title in September 2019.
The staff for the first film in the series, Princess Principal: Crown Handler – Chapter 1, were revealed in September 2019. Tachibana would be directing the film, and Noboru Kimura was revealed to be supervising and writing the script instead of Ichirō Ōkouchi who have worked on the series. Actas would solely animate the film; the studio previously collaborated with Studio 3Hz in the series. Additionally, Aoi Koga was revealed as the new voice actress for Ange, with Akira Sekine, Yō Taichi, Akari Kageyama, and Nozomi Furuki reprising their roles as Princess, Dorothy, Beatrice, and Chise, respectively. In February 2020, Nobuo Tobita joined the cast as Bishop, a spy within the Albion royal family who knows the Princess' true identity. Shunpei Maruyama, president of Actas, announced that the film was completed in March 2020 despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The films James Bond, Mission: Impossible, and Charlie's Angels influenced Chapter 1, but Tachibana used Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011) to accomplish "a realistic spy story". While working on the script, Kimura was inspired by the American television series The Blacklist since he was interested on how "the drama and the development [of the series] mesh well". Tachibana likened the action scene at the double-deck bus to Jackie Chan's 1985 film Police Story. Sentai Filmworks revealed the English dub cast in February 2022.
The returning staff and cast for the second film in the series, Princess Principal: Crown Handler – Chapter 2, were revealed in July 2021. Additionally, new characters were introduced, namely Edward, Mary, and Richard, the members of Albion royal family who are all in line of succession. Maruyama announced that the film was completed in August 2021. The dragon Smerg from Michael Ende's 1979 novel The Neverending Story influenced the Steam Dragon animatronics scene. In August 2022, Sentai Filmworks revealed the film would receive an English dub.
The production on the third film in the series, Princess Principal: Crown Handler – Chapter 3, were announced in September 2021. That month, Teruyuki Tanzawa, Rina Endō, and Kazuyuki Okitsu were revealed to be voicing Edward, Mary, and Richard, respectively. The returning staff and cast were announced in November 2022. Tachibana stated the film would help the viewers to "finally begin to understand the meaning of the title Crown Handler". An English dub by Sentai Filmworks for the film is available.
The returning staff and cast for the fourth film in the series, Princess Principal: Crown Handler – Chapter 4, were confirmed in February 2025. That month, Isao Sasaki joined the cast as Turner.
