The Little Mermaid Teaser Reveals First Look At Halle Bailey’s Ariel

The Little Mermaid (2023)

by James White |
Updated on

One of the most anticipated of Disney's animation-to-live action adaptations highlighted at this year's D23 Expo was Rob Marshall's new take on The Little Mermaid, which stars Halle Bailey as Ariel. The first footage for the movie is now online.

Jane Goldman and David Magee worked on the new script, which naturally owes a debt to the work of 1989 filmmakers Ron Clements and John Musker, who originally drew on the story by Hans Christian Andersen.

We'd expect many of the same narrative beats, including mermaid Ariel falling for a human prince, making a dangerous deal to swap her tail for legs (trading her voice in the process) and trying to find her true love.

Many of the songs from the 1989 movie will return, and we can expect new material written by original composer Alan Menken, working alongside Lin-Manuel Miranda.

The Little Mermaid, which also Jonah Hauer-King as Prince Eric, Javier Bardem as King Triton, Daveed Diggs as Sebastian, Jacob Tremblay as Flounder, Awkwafina as Scuttle and Melissa McCarthy as scheming sea witch Ursula, will be in cinemas from 26 May next year.

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