Perhaps ‘A Star Is Born’ should be renamed ‘A Movie Star Is Born’. This critically acclaimed film marks the film debut for pop singer Lady Gaga, who has earned raves for her acting, and Hollywood has come calling. She was reportedly offered a role in Warner Brothers’ ‘Birds of Prey’, which she turned down. Now it is rumored that Disney wants the ‘Bad Romance’ singer for a role in the live-action adaptation of ‘The Little Mermaid’.
Since this is just a rumor, there is very little information available, including who Gaga would be playing, but the most logical choice would obviously be Ursula, the evil sea witch that steals Ariel’s voice. Pat Carol provided Ursula’s voice in the original 1989 animated classic.
Gaga won a Golden Globe Award for starring in ‘American Horror Story: Hotel’ in 2016 and there is much buzz that she will get an Oscar nomination for ‘A Star Is Born’.
In August, it was rumored that Disney was eyeing Zendaya for the role of Ariel, which met with controversy due to her mixed race. She is no stranger to this sort of controversy, as she faced similar backlash for her casting as M.J. in ‘Spider-Man: Homecoming’ until the film was released and it was revealed that M.J. stood for Michelle Johnson instead of Mary Jane Watson.
Rob Marshall, director of the upcoming ‘Mary Poppins Returns’ will helm ‘The Little Mermaid’, which will feature music by Alan Menkin and ‘Moana”s Lin-Manuel Miranda.
Disney has scored in recent years with live-action adaptations of their animated classics, like ‘Cinderella’, ‘Maleficent’ (based on ‘Sleeping Beauty’), ‘Beauty & The Beast’, ‘Jungle Book’ with ‘Pete’s Dragon’ being the rare miss. The studio also has ‘Dumbo’ and ‘Aladdin’ arriving next year, plus ‘Lady & The Tramp’ slated for the new Disney streaming service. Also in the works are ‘Cruella De Vil’ starring Glenn Close as the villain from ‘101 Dalmations’, ‘Maleficent 2’ and the just announced ‘Lilo & Stitch’.
Disney has not announced production or release dates for the live action ‘Little Mermaid’.
Source: Disney Insider