The Little Mermaid (2023 film)
The Little Mermaid is an upcoming American musical fantasy film directed by Rob Marshall from a screenplay written by Jane Goldman and David Magee. It is a production of Walt Disney Pictures and is a live-action adaptation of the 1989 animated film of the same name, which itself is loosely based on Hans Christian Andersen's tale of the same name. It is produced by Rob Marshall, John DeLuca, Marc Platt and Lin-Manuel Miranda, the latter whom co-wrote new songs for the remake as the lyricist, Alan Menken is set to return  as the composer for both the score and the songs. The film will star Halle Bailey, Jonah Hauer-King, Javier Bardem and Melissa McCarthy, with Daveed Diggs, Jacob Tremblay, and Awkwafina in voice roles. "The Little Mermaid" is scheduled to be released in the United States on May 26, 2023. Premise. A young mermaid makes a deal with a sea witch: trading her beautiful voice to get human legs so she can discover the world above water. Cast. Voice actors. Additionally, Noma Dumezweni, Jessica Alexander, Russell Balogh, Adrian Christopher, Emily Coates and Simone Ashley have been cast in undisclosed roles . Production. Development. On May 25, 2016, "Deadline Hollywood" reported that Disney is in early development for a live-action adaptation of "The Little Mermaid". On August 16, 2016, it was announced that Lin-Manuel Miranda, a fan of the original film, will co-produce the film with Marc Platt. On December 6, 2017, it was reported that Rob Marshall was being courted by the Walt Disney Company to direct the film, while Jane Goldman will serve as screenwriter. On December 5, 2018, Marshall revealed that he, along with John DeLuca and Marc Platt were hired to begin developing the project  for film adaptation, and said that "John and [Marshall] have begun our work trying to explore it and figure it out", as he felt that "it's a very complicated movie to take from animation to live-action. Live-action's a whole other world so you have to be very careful about how that's done, but so we're starting the exploration phase". Later in December, Marshall was officially hired as director for the film. During an interview on December 21, 2018, Marshall revealed that the film is in very early stages of development, stating that the studio  is trying to explore ways to translate the original film's story into live-action. On July 3, 2019, David Magee, who previously wrote the screenplay for Marshall's "Mary Poppins Returns", was revealed to have written the script with Goldman. On February 10, 2020, Miranda revealed that rehearsals for the film had already begun. Casting. Studio veterans Lindsay Lohan, Chris Evans and Zendaya expressed interest in starring in the adaptation, while some fans wanted Ariana Grande to play the role of Ariel. On June 28, 2019, it was announced that Melissa McCarthy was in talks to play Ursula in  the film. The next month, Jacob Tremblay (as the voice of Flounder), Awkwafina (as the voice of Scuttle), Halle Bailey (as Ariel), and Javier Bardem (as King Triton) joined the cast while Harry Styles and Jack Whitehall were considering the role of Prince Eric. However, in August 2019 it was revealed that Styles has turned down the part; in November of the same year, he revealed in an interview with Capital FM that there were a "few things" that they couldn't work out, he also stated ""I think it's obviously going to be an amazing film, but they  shoot for so long and I wanna tour next year, maybe. I haven't announced that yet, but yeah, it just didn't quite line""; however, due to the COVID-19 pandemic the tour did not happen and the role of Prince Eric eventually went to British actor Jonah Hauer-King. Director Rob Marshall said that "[Bailey] possesses that rare combination of spirit, heart, youth, innocence, and substance — plus a glorious singing voice — all intrinsic qualities necessary to play this iconic role", and that the film is about "[Ariel] finding her voice […] And that immediately just felt like an interesting, timely  piece that resonated with [the production crew]". Bailey said that she wanted to bring "freshness" to the character. She also said that "[i]t's amazing that the directors have been so forward in asking [her] to show [her] true self… that's been a really fun growing experience". Co-star Daveed Diggs said that the remake will give "some more power" to Ariel than the original film. In October, Daveed Diggs, who previously worked on Miranda's musical "Hamilton", joined the cast as the voice of Sebastian the crab. By November 2019, Jonah Hauer-King had been cast as Prince  Eric. Cameron Cuffe was also in the running for the role, before Hauer-King was cast; both of which had already screen tested alongside Bailey. On February 18, 2020, McCarthy confirmed her casting as Ursula during an interview on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show": "I play Ursula, the sea witch. It is so fun, we're just in rehearsals. It's been an absolute blast. Stepping into the world of Rob Marshall, it's like a fever dream, I just went to London for a week, I was like, 'I don't get to go to dance camp for a week .' All day he's like, 'Do you want to slide down this 40-foot clam shell?' I'm like, 'Yes! Of course I do. What are you, crazy?' It's been wildly creative." In July 2020, it was announced that Kacey Musgraves was considered for the part of Vanessa (Ursula's human form), but she turned down the role. In October 2020, actress Emily Coates joined the film in an undisclosed role. In December 2020, Disney officially announced seven principal actors while also debuting the film's official logo. On January 5, 2021, Noma Dumezweni was announced to have been  cast in an undisclosed role. In a March 29, 2021, interview with Marie Claire Magazine, when asked about her role in the upcoming film, Dumezweni stated, "I can tell you that I'm doing it. I can tell you I'm very excited. I can tell you I had a chat with hair and makeup the other day and it was like, Yay!". In May 2021, it was reported that Dumezweni would be portraying Carlotta and that Jude Akuwudike had been cast as Grimsby. Despite Dumezweni originally being reported as playing a role invented for the remake, Carlotta was, in  fact, in the original animated film. On December 29, 2021, during an interview on Facebook’s "Talks with Mama Tina", Bailey recalled being scared and nervous while auditioning for the role of Ariel. Filming. Filming was originally scheduled to begin in London around late March or early April 2020, however, it was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Set photos at Pinewood Studios in London, England leaked a few weeks after the production was shut down, it showed aerial images featuring Prince Eric's ship as well as indoor images of what seems to be his castle. On July 29 , 2020, based on a social media post, Jacob Tremblay began recording his lines for the film. Filming was scheduled to re-commence on August 10, 2020. However, it was delayed yet again to November/early-December 2020 in order to accommodate Melissa McCarthy's production schedule for the Hulu miniseries "Nine Perfect Strangers". By November 2020, Disney's new CEO Bob Chapek announced that filming on all movies that had been postponed by the coronavirus had resumed filming, and in some cases completed principal photography. In December 2020, McCarthy stated that she would hopefully begin filming the movie in January  2021. The following month, Daveed Diggs discussed the large amount of work he had to do when it came to preparing for and recording dialogue for the role of Sebastian. Principal photography officially began at Pinewood Studios in Iver, England on January 30, 2021. McCarthy's scenes eventually began filming in April 2021. On April 6, it was announced that additional filming would be happening in summer in Sardinia, Italy, for a total of "roughly three months." In June 2021, production was temporarily halted due to multiple crew members of the film contracting COVID-19. Filming resumed about a week later  and officially wrapped on July 11, 2021. On December 30, 2021, Halle shared some new behind-the-scenes photos of "The Little Mermaid" set, showing a glimpse of Halle Bailey as Ariel. The actress took to Instagram to wrap up her year and shared photos of moments of filming "The Little Mermaid". The first photo showed the movie's script, which was blurred to avoid spoilers, but still showed her character name "Ariel" in bold print. One photo showed her swimming in Sardinia's waters, while another showed the process of movie-making using CGI. Music. On March 17, 2017 , it was announced that Alan Menken, who previously scored and co-wrote songs for the original film, would return as the film's composer and to write new songs alongside producer Lin-Manuel Miranda. Three months later, Menken stated that his work on the film's music had put on hold due to Miranda and Marc Platt's schedules with "Mary Poppins Returns". On May 20, 2019, Menken stated that "The Little Mermaid" would be his next project, following the release of the live-action adaptation of "Aladdin", and on July 9, he and Miranda started working on new songs  for the film. On replacing the original film's lyricist, the late Howard Ashman, Miranda felt that "[he] will definitely fall short" to Ashman's work, arguing that "no one can write like him". On September 17, 2019, it was reported that Menken and Miranda wrote a new song for Prince Eric, which Menken confirmed on October 11, 2019, and revealed that he and Miranda wrote "like four or five new songs" for the film, including a new song for Eric and Ariel, a new song for King Triton as well as a song for Scuttle. On January 16, 2020 , Halle Bailey confirmed that the song "Part of Your World", from the original film, will appear in the remake. On February 10, 2020, Miranda revealed that he and Menken wrote four new songs for the film. On March 22, 2020, Menken revealed that the songs for the film have already been recorded. On February 19, 2021, Menken said that the new songs would be a "blend" of his and Miranda's styles. He elaborated that the songs would feature "some rapping" in the vein of Miranda's previous works, as well as a closer style to his usual work. On  September 22, 2021, Menken sat down with Disney's "For Scores" podcast and confirmed that the film will feature four new songs. He also recalled that Miranda was ""daunted"" by the prospect of following on in the footsteps of the late Howard Ashman, the lyricist who worked with Menken to write the original film's songs. On November 24, 2021, in a recent interview with "Collider", Miranda talked about his admiration for "The Little Mermaid" and how Howard Ashman and Alan Menken helped shape his childhood. He stated that working on this project was a wish fulfillment for him, but  that he loves Sebastian's songs so much that he could not write anything new for his character (who will be by "Hamilton"'s Daveed Diggs in this remake). Miranda goes on to explain that all of the songs fans know and love will still be in the film, but that Menken and he were able to find some moments to introduce original music as well. He said: On January 20, 2022, Halle spoke with "Stylecater", saying "she was so emotional while filming ""Part of Your World"" she said: On February 17, 2022, during a podcast interview with "Variety", Lin -Manuel Miranda revealed that one of the new songs for the live-action film will take place when Ariel is on land in her human form. He also revealed that co-star Daveed Diggs might rap in the film. Release. The film is scheduled to be released on May 26, 2023, in the United States by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures.