When someone says ‘The Little Mermaid’, it’s a pretty safe bet that you’re thinking about Ariel, Eric, Sebastian, and Flounder under the sea from the animated Disney classic. So when you’re discussing the upcoming live-action adaptation, there’s a good chance that the project featuring ‘Hamilton’ and ‘Moana’ songsmith Lin-Manuel Miranda and Disney musical legend Alan Menken is the one that comes to mind. However, the House of Mouse isn’t the only place in town doing fairy tale reimaginings. Universal actually hopes to reel in audiences with a version of Hans Christian Anderson’s beloved story from ‘Love Actually’ and ‘Notting Hill’ writer Richard Curtis directed by up and coming filmmaker Rebecca Thomas and starring Chloe Grace Moretz. But surprisingly enough, we’re not even talking about that one right now.
Earlier this week, Deadline shared the first trailer for ‘The Little Mermaid’ from Conglomerate Media and Kingsway Productions. Featuring a stellar cast that includes ‘Downton Abbey’ star Poppy Drayton, William Moseley from ‘The Chronicles of Narnia’, Loreto Peralta, Gina Gershon, and the legendary Shirley MacLaine, this version tells the story of a little girl and her reporter brother that travel to a small Mississippi town to find a woman that is believed to be a real mermaid. You can check out the preview for the upcoming film from relatively new filmmaker Blake Harris, who wrote the script and co-directed with Chris Bouchard, right here:
After seeing the trailer, one might get some ‘Big Fish’ vibes because of the setting and the idea that they don’t know what’s real and what’s fantasy. While it isn’t exactly the version of the story that we’re desperately waiting for, it seems like it’ll be a suitable offering while we wait for Miranda to complete his commitments to ‘Mary Poppins Returns’ and whatever ‘Hamilton’ related duties that he needs to tend to in England. So in the meantime, let us know what you think about this take on ‘The Little Mermaid’ in the comments.
Despite being a “professional writer”, Ben likes run-on sentences far too much. For more of his attempts at being funny and the occasional insightful thought, follow him on Twitter and Instagram.
