Citing “creative differences” (as always), Sofia Coppola has exited the director’s chair on Universal’s live action telling of Hans Christian Anderson‘s “The Little Mermaid“. Coppola was first attached back in March 2014 when the first draft of the screenplay from Abi Morgan (Shame, Suffragate) followed by Kelly Marcel (Fifty Shades of Grey) was to be re-written by Caroline Thompson (Edward Scissorhands) and despite Coppola’s departure, Universal still plans on moving forward with Thompson’s latest draft.
Joe Wright, whose Pan will be hitting theaters in October was actually once attached to this project, and I would bet Universal goes even more conventional than either Wright or Coppola once they finally settle on a director.
Coppola seemed like an interesting fit to begin with, her style of filmmaking being anything but mainstream and considering the reported $150 million spent on Wright’s Pan, if Universal is expecting to do anything similar I would expect them to get a filmmaker far less artistic than Coppola as I can only assume it was Coppola’s vision for the project Universal suits could never quite wrap their head around. [Deadline]
