A few weeks back reports surfaced that Harry Styles was in talks to play opposite of Halle Bailey in The Little Mermaid live action remake as Prince Eric. The DisInsider has been recently informed that Styles has officially signed on to the project.

*UPDATE*

It has been reported by major Hollywood trades that Styles has officially passed on the role. We apologize for not double confirming what our source told us.

Harry Styles is known for his time in the popular boyband, One Direction and he also played a minor role in Christopher Nolan’s war drama, Dunkirk as Alex.  He was also recently in talks to play Elvis for the Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis biopic, but was beaten out for the role by Austin Butler.

Alan Menken is remastering his original “The Little Mermaid” score for the film and is writing a song with Moana composer, Lin-Manuel Miranda.  While Prince Eric doesn’t have any songs in the original The Little Mermaid, the singer joining Bailey is a strong sign that this will change in the remake. Styles and Bailey are incredible singers who will take on Alan Menken’s remastered Little Mermaid songs and new ones, too.

Also in talks to join Disney’s upcoming remake is  Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales star Javier Bardem is in talks to play Ariel’s father King Triton  Melissa McCarthy, Jacob Tremblay, and Awkwafina who are circling Ursula, Ariel’s best friend Flounder, and Scuttle.

The Little Mermaid will be directed by Rob Marshall and production is expected to begin in January in the Caribbean. It is expected that we  will hear more news on the project with the bi-annual D23 expo next week!