It’s been a while since we last discussed The Little Mermaid live-action and its polemical cast, which, more than anything, proved we’re still quite a racist society that hides their discriminatory views under a defense of “authenticity.” But we’ve already ranted about this here. Today, after months without news about the film (and after an extremely lousy and bad attempt to show the story in musical form), producers have already announced they’ve found a gorgeous Prince Eric, and he’s actually as dreamy as the cartoon and… also a super safe choice.
After Harry Styles dropped out of the project, claiming it overlapped with his musical career, the quest to find the perfect Prince Eric began, and after months and apparently tons of auditions and screen tests, the part has finally gone to Jonah Hauer-King… Who? Exactly, the 24-year-old actor has had a few minor roles in his short career, and this will be his major breakthrough.
Hauer-King’s casting rounds up the list of the main characters, so director Rob Marshall can finally start production (in April 2020) for an expected release in 2021. So, Hauer-King will join a star-studded cast including Halle Bailey as Ariel, Melissa McCarthy as Ursula, Jacob Tremblay as Flounder, and Awkwafina as Scuttle. Now, there are also rumors that haven’t been confirmed yet, claiming that the great Javier Bardem will be playing King Triton, and Daveed Diggs, the beloved Sebastian.
Unlike the upcoming live-action of Mulan, which will be stripped of the animated classic’s great songs, The Little Mermaid will include our favorite jams and some new original ones composed by Disney’s genius Alan Menken in collaboration with the awesome Lin-Manuel Miranda (who worked on all the songs for Moana), who’s also producing the film.
So, while the wait will be long, at least we now have the main cast. Let’s just hope they bring something new to the story and avoid making just a copy, because, sorry to say it, Disney my love, but it’s getting boring.
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