With just about two months left until the theatrical debut of Disney’s The Little Mermaid, Entertainment Weekly has shared some new images and some new details about the upcoming live-action remake.
EW.com
- First off, director Rob Marshall shared some insight as to what makes his film different from previous iterations of this story:
- "It's a very emotional story. We were able to take the beauty of what's there in the original film and the Hans Christian Andersen tale and really bring more depth."
- More attention is given in this film to the different appearance of Ariel compared to the rest of her family and that spurs her curiosity and restlessness.
- Halle Bailey, the film’s star, shared her thoughts on Marshall’s work as well:
- "Rob's vision was to really give a deeper dive into Ariel's heart, into her brain, and allow us to see more of that gumption and passion and freedom, and reason for the things she was doing. Like in the grotto. You see a bit more of her curiosity."
EW.com
- Ariel won’t be the only character with some differences from the animated classic. In this film, Prince Eric will have a single parent: Queen Selina, a new character added to this version of the story.
- Queen Selina will be played by Harry Potter and the Cursed Child's Noma Dumezweni.
- Eric, who will be played by Jonah Hauer-King, will also have a new ballad titled “Wild Uncharted Waters.”
- Lin-Manuel Miranda, the song’s lyricist, shared a bit of the premise of the song:
- "He wants to see the other edge of that horizon line, wherever it may lead."
- Miranda worked alongside Disney Legend Alan Menken to create a total of three new songs for the film, with the other two being Ariel's "For the First Time" and Scuttle and Sebastian’s "Scuttlebutt."
Melissa McCarthy as Ursula in 'The Little Mermaid'
- The new film will also make some modifications to the story of the villain, with Ursula being the estranged sister of King Triton.
- This is a change that was first seen in the 2008 Broadway musical version of the animated movie.
- Melissa McCarthy will portray the iconic Disney villain and she shared some thoughts on her version of the character:
- "She's the villain, but there's such an edge to her," McCarthy adds. "She's been put in this lair. It's like she's had too many martinis alone. Her friends are eels. That is a woman who has seen it, been in it, dug her way back out. All my references are terrible, but I kept thinking, 'Many a Pall Mall has this woman had.'"
- Miranda also did his best to prepare audiences for McCarthy’s performance as Ursula:
- "Everyone's seen the trailer, and now you know how good Halle's gonna be, 'cause she sounds incredible. But no one's ready for Melissa McCarthy."
- McCarthy’s performance of the beloved villain song “Poor Unfortunate Souls,” came with an orchestra in London for the cast recording.
- Miranda also shared some thoughts on her rendition of the song:
- "She brings all of the delicious camp from the original, but then also is just scary," Miranda adds. "If that's your favorite song, you're going to be happy."
- To read more about the making of the film and to see more new images, head to EW.com.
- Disney’s The Little Mermaid will swim into theaters on May 26th.