Melissa McCarthy Has "Fallen in Love" With Her "Little Mermaid" Character
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Disney has announced a live-action remake of The Little Mermaid.
Halle Bailey was cast as Ariel, with Jonah Hauer-King joining as Prince Eric. The rest of the cast includes Melissa McCarthy, Javier Bardem, and more.
While there is still no confirmed release date, here’s everything we know about the film so far.
You know the story well: A beautiful mermaid with a stunning voice gives away her gift to an evil underwater witch in order to experience what it's like to be "a part of that world"—and find true love. The Little Mermaid is the animated film that launched the Disney Renaissance, a 10-year golden era that churned out hit after hit movie for the movie studio in the late 80s and 90s.
More than 30 years later, the film is getting a hotly-anticipated live-action remake. In 2019, Disney announced it had found its Ariel in grown-ish star Halle Bailey—which, despite causing some controversy thanks to fans who took issue with Ariel being played by a Black woman (sigh), mostly inspired celebration of Disney for colorblind casting.
"I feel like I'm dreaming and I'm just grateful and I don't pay attention to the negativity," Bailey told Variety at the Power of Young Hollywood gala after the announcement. "I just feel like this role was something bigger than me and greater and it's going to be beautiful. I'm just so excited to be a part of it."
A year later, in 2020, Disney unveiled the rest of the full cast, as well as other changes that are on the way. If you're ready to go under the sea, here’s a deep-dive (pun intended) into everything we know about the The Little Mermaid live-action remake movie so far.
Tell us! Who's in the cast of the live-action Little Mermaid?
We already know about Halle Bailey playing Ariel. But what about the rest of the cast? Jonah Hauer-King will be Prince Eric—and is a dead ringer for the animated character, if we say so ourselves. Previously, the 25-year-old British actor starred as Laurie in a Little Women remake (no, not Greta Gerwig's film) and the period drama World on Fire.
The rest of the cast is equally on-point. Academy Award-winning actor Javier Bardem will be Ariel's stern father, King Triton. And Melissa McCarthy, who is most often giving us side cramps in comedies like Spy, will try out villain mode as Ursula the sea witch. So far, she's thriving. “I have seen The Little Mermaid like nine billion times, strangely, so to get to play Ursula was like a dream come true," McCarthy told Yahoo. "I've kind of fallen in love with her. "
Then, there are Ariel's sidekicks. Crazy Rich Asians's Awkwafina will be Scuttle, the seagull expert of the human world. Jacob Tremblay (Wonder) will be perfect as Flounder, Ariel's fishy bestie. Finally, we can't wait for Hamilton's Daveed Diggs's version of "Kiss the Girl" during his time as Sebastian the crab.
A Disney veteran will be directing The Little Mermaid.
Chicago director Rob Marshall is directing the film, which comes from a script written by Jane Goldman, who previously wrote Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children and The Woman in Black. Marshall is no stranger to Disney, having directed Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, Into the Woods, and Mary Poppins Returns.
Lin-Manuel Miranda will rework the soundtrack.
Another major name is also attached to the film: The Little Mermaid superfan Lin-Manuel Miranda is set to produce the film alongside Marc Platt. He’s also teaming up with the original 1989 film’s composer, Alan Menken, to rework songs from the animated movie as well as composing new songs for the soundtrack. Menken won two Oscars for his Little Mermaid score, including the Best Original Song for “Under the Sea.”
Miranda even tweeted about his excitement:
🧜🏾♀️... https://t.co/9VPWQFBH9R
— Lin-Manuel Miranda (@Lin_Manuel) April 10, 2019
When will The Little Mermaid remake hit theaters?
Sorry to say—that’s no release date just! According to McCarthy's interview with People, filming will begin in January of 2021. While you wait, you can check out another live-action version of The Little Mermaid on Netflix. Sure, you won’t get to hear “Poor Unfortunate Souls,"—and the story is very different. So if that's not enough to tide you over while you wait, go ahead and give the original a re-watch—or two. Just don't blame us if "Under the Sea" gets stuck in your head for the rest of the day.
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