The live action remake of Disney’s The Little Mermaid have finally announced who will be playing the title character, Ariel. Halle Bailey has been cast to join the highly anticipated remake of the Disney classic.
Similarly to its predecessors such as Aladdin, The Lion King and Beauty and the Beast, the remake will be a new take on the story of the adventurous mermaid who is desperate to find love and learn about the taboo humans on land. It will include most of the original songs from the cartoon and aims to ‘fix’ some elements which may now be outdated. This has been a running trend with the remakes where while holding onto the core parts of the story, Disney aims to tweak the morals to stay current with the modern audience.
We talked earlier in the week about how Melissa McCarthy is in talks with the casting team about taking on the role of the villainess, Ursula. Since then, other developments also include Jacob Tremblay (Room) and Awkwafina (Crazy Rich Asians) are also in talks regarding taking on the voices of Flounder and Scuttle.
Bailey is the latest to join the cast as director Rob Marshall says, “After an extensive search, it was abundantly clear that Halle possesses that rare combination of spirit, heart, youth, innocence, and substance – plus a glorious singing voice – all intrinsic qualities necessary to play this iconic role.” She is currently a R&B singer who has previously appeared on TV but never in film.
Disney have also announced that more casting updates are due in the upcoming weeks so we will keep you posted!
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