With the central piece of casting for Disney's new, live-action The Little Mermaid – that of Halle Bailey as Ariel – now locked in place, others are also coming into focus. According to fan site The DisInsider (and since corroborated by Variety), Javier Bardem's in talks to play King Triton, Ariel's father.
Both sites are quick to stress that he hasn't made a deal yet. Like recent announcement Harry Styles (who is in early talks to be Prince Eric, the subject of Ariel's fascination in the human world above the waves), he's still circling the role. Yet it would see Bardem return to the watery depths after playing Captain Salazar in Pirates Of The Caribbean: Salazar's Revenge.
If he does officially jump aboard, Bardem would join the likes of Bailey, Melissa McCarthy (as calculating sea witch Ursula, who offers Ariel the chance at walking on land in exchange for her voice) Awkwafina (on to voice Seagull pal Scuttle) and Jacob Tremblay (lending his tonsil talents to fishy friend Flounder).
Mary Poppins Returns' Rob Marshall is in the director's chair, with David Magee writing the most recent script and original composer Alan Menken working on new songs with Hamilton/Moana man Lin-Manuel Miranda.
As for Bardem, he's most recently been working on Denis Villeneuve's new adaptation of Dune, so he'd probably be glad to have some water around