Disney's highly-anticipated live-action adaptation of the classic 1989 film The Little Mermaid now has a release date: May 26, 2023.
Halle Bailey, the younger sister of fellow musician Chlöe, is playing Ariel. Other cast members include Javier Bardem as King Triton, Melissa McCarthy as the wicked Ursula, Daveed Diggs as Sebastian, Awkwafina as Scuttle, Jacob Tremblay as Flounder, and Jonah Hauer-King as Prince Eric. Rob Marshall directs, while Jane Goldman is credited with writing the script.
While Memorial Day 2023 is a long way off, Bailey has been updating excited fans about production. In a PopSugar interview last year, the actress shared the iconic musical number “Part of Your World” will be part of the upcoming live-action adaptation, along with several new songs written by the original composer Alan Menken and Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda.
“I’ve been a fan of The Little Mermaid since I was 5, so those new songs are very exciting to me, as well as the old,” Halle said in January 2020. “That’s probably like, ding, ding, ding! My number one.”
In July, the actress also shared a mermaid-like photo of herself to announce that production had wrapped.
“I feel so grateful to have experienced this film in all of its glory,” Halle wrote in the photo's caption. “It has been the toughest experience being away from everything and everyone I’ve ever known, to feeling self doubt/ loneliness, but also feeling such freedom and perseverance as I’ve reached the end. This experience has made me so much stronger than I ever thought I could be.”
The live-action Little Mermaid remake, along with Bailey's casting, was announced way back in 2019. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, production was halted until it was safe to film in London.
The original animated 80s' Little Mermaid film, based on the 1837 Danish fairytale of the same name, was written and directed by Ron Clements and John Musker, with music by Alan Menken and lyrics by Howard Ashman. The voice cast included Jodi Benson, Christopher Daniel Barnes, Pat Carroll, Samuel E. Wright, Kenneth Mars, and Buddy Hackett.
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Article Image: Actress Halle Bailey next to a logo for Disney's "The Little Mermaid." (Featureflash via DepositPhotos, Walt Disney Television Animation [Available through Public Domain] via Wikimedia Commons.)
