Disney has had tremendous success with their string of live-action remakes, so it comes as no surprise that the studio is hard at work on a live-action adaptation of The Little Mermaid, with Lin-Manuel Miranda and Alan Menken teaming up on the music.
There has been tons of speculation (which we will get to in a minute) that has people excited for this new film. However, we are not the only ones with excitement. Jodi Benson the voice of Ariel in the 1989 animated classic recently sat down with ComicBook.com and shared her thoughts on the film.
I think it’s going to be incredible. They are talking about this concept, and the team of people that I’ve heard mentioned for this particular live-action film sounds quite magical. And I think for Alan [Menken] to be teaming up with Lin-Manuel is going to be phenomenal, and if in fact we have Robbie Marshall, if that is the case, as director and John DeLuca as executive producer. Mary Poppins Returns, I think, was just a fantastic film, so I know that Robbie is an incredible director with a great eye. I think he can handle it. I think it can be delivered in a way that’s going to be quite special. I don’t know exactly how they’ll pull it all off, but I’m sure it’ll be amazing.
Mary Poppins Returns director Rob Marshall has been circling the project for over a year now but is not officially attached as of yet. There is speculation that the role of Ariel in the remake was offered to Zendaya, we here have The DisInsider attempted reaching out to her reps but we, unfortunately, heard nothing back. When asked about the rumor during the Smallfoot press tour the actress simply stated: “we will see.” Another rumor we heard but was never confirmed was that music superstar Lady Gaga is high on Disney’s wish list for a role in the film. Most likely the role of Ursula. While we were not able to confirm, we decided to share it as a rumor and nothing more.
As of right now, there is no release date for the film. We expect to hear more news on this project at Disney’s bi-annual D23 Expo this August.
Source: Comicbook
