Disney’s live action The Little Mermaid: Production facts versus rumors

From casting to release dates, there’s been a lot of speculation about Disney’s live-action The Little Mermaid. So, what’s really going on with production?

Since 2016, there has been news circulating about the creation of a live action version of Disney’s The Little Mermaid, from lead roles to release dates. But over the years, these claims have almost turned to rumor since two additional Little Mermaid live action projects have been mistaken for Disney’s still in-process film.

The first project reported was a partnership between Universal studios and Working Title, with Rebecca Thomas as director and a screenplay by Richard Curtis. Buzz about the movie increased when Chloe Grace Moretz was officially given the lead role as Ariel and CinemaBlend announced Universal and Working Title had chosen to tell the story from the pages of the original tale by Hans Christian Anderson rather than the musical Disney adaptation.

Moretz expressed a great deal of enthusiasm for the project, telling Entertainment Tonight, “…a modern, revisionist tale is kind of what we’re going after…and making it progressive for young women in this day and age.”

But that was two summers ago, and Universal’s Little Mermaid has suffered several setbacks since then, from Sofia Coppola dropping out of production due to “creative differences,” to the team’s constant cycling of writers, exiting Kelly Marcel (Fifty Shades of Grey) and Caroline Thompson (Edward Scissorhands) and bringing on Love Actually‘s Richard Curtis.

The worst downfall for the project came last fall when Moretz announced her desire to take a break from acting, and thus left a mermaid-shaped void in Universal’s team. Since then, the project has been in limbo.

Redemption for Little Mermaid fans came with the trailer release of Conglomerate Productions and Kingsway Productions’ own independent live action The Little Mermaid.  Set in Mississippi, this story follows a young girl and her journalist uncle, played by William Moseley, as they search to track down a woman rumored to be the real-life Little Mermaid. Downton Abbey‘s Poppy Drayton stars as Elizabeth, the “performing” mermaid whose soul was stolen by a circus ringmaster. Shirley MacLaine also has a role in the film as a mysterious lady who seems to know a great deal about the Little Mermaid’s story.

The film, whose production was kept quiet until the trailer release, just swam into theaters last month. While some reviewed the film as a perfect father-daughter date, others showed no restraint in expressing their disappointment in the movie, claiming that it is “Not The Little Mermaid.”

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It’s possible the distaste for this second production came from viewers believing this was the long-awaited, and under-budgeted, Disney live-action film. Clarity and excitement once again ensued last week, when rumors surfaced about Zendaya’s possible involvement with Disney’s production of the romantic, under sea tale.

The Greatest Showman star was allegedly offered the lead role of by Disney studios, who may be taking a “new route” with their adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen’s story by casting a woman of color as Ariel.

Disney and reps for the actress have not commented on the news as of yet but That Hashtag Show claims, should the report be true, the role of King Triton would also go to an actor of color.

While Lindsay Lohan did briefly offer up her voice to Ariel’s character on Instagram–should Disney decide to recruit Beauty and the Beast (2017) director Bill Condon–the moment was shortly lived and news of Lohan’s pitch has died down since.

What is certain about Disney’s upcoming live action The Little Mermaid, third in the project pool, is that it will be a re-imagining of the studio’s golden-age animated classic. Though there is no official release date, Alan Menken and Lin-Manuel Miranda (Hamilton and Moana songwriter) are officially tapped to compose the film’s music, while Rob Marshall is set to helm the film from a script by Jane Goldman (X-Men: Days Of Future Past). Production is expected to take place in Puerto Rico and Cape Town Africa.

One way or another, Ariel will once again, at some point, be part of our worlds. When that will be has yet to be confirmed. The hope is that Disney will dedicate this time to making its new under-the-sea adventure as beautiful and heartwarming as the songs Jodi Benson sang for us all in 1989.

The next live-action remakes coming from Disney are Tim Burton’s Dumbo, Jon Favreau’s The Lion King, Guy Ritchie’s Aladdin, Mulan (which just recently began production) and Maleficent 2. What adaptation are you most excited for?