Disney Officially Sets Live Action Little Mermaid Movie!

Rumored for some time, Walt Disney Pictures is moving forward with a live action Little Mermaid movie!

Word broke back in May that Walt Disney Pictures was potentially eyeing their 1989 animated hit for the live action treatment. Today, it seems that those plans are coming to fruition as Deadline reports that a live action Little Mermaid is, indeed, on the way. What’s more, the studio is pairing Lin-Manuel Miranda and Alan Menken to create a blend of old and new songs that will be featured in the upcoming big screen version. 

Disney’s animated The Little Mermaid made over $211 million at the box office and became a bestseller on home video, popularizing songs like “Under The Sea” and “Part of Your World.” Based on Hans Christian Andersen’s Danish fairy tale, it tells the story of a 16-year-old mermaid princess named Ariel who longs to be human.

Universal Pictures and Working Title have also been in development on their own Little Mermaid project with Chloe Grace Moretz set to star and Rebecca Thomas directing from a screenplay by Richard Curtis.

Miranda, who will also produce the live action Little Mermaid alongside Marc Platt, has a number of upcoming projects with Disney. He’s providing songs for this November’s animated adventure Moana (from original Little Mermaid directors John Musker and Ron Clements) and he’s part of the cast of the upcoming Mary Poppins Returns. Set to star Emily Blunt in the title role, the film will soon begin production in England for a December 25, 2018 release.

The live action Little Mermaid joins a slate of upcoming live action Disney features that also includes Beauty and the Beast, The Jungle Book 2, Cruella, Maleficent 2, Dumbo, Mulan, Winnie the Pooh, Pinocchio, Genies, Night on Bald Mountain and The Sword in the Stone. A live action Tinkerbell movie starring Reese Witherspoon is also in parallel development to a live action Peter Pan directed by Pete’s Dragon writer and director David Lowery.

Who would you like to see cast in a live action Little Mermaid movie? Let us know your top choices in the comments below!