‘The Little Mermaid,’ another one of Disney’s live-action reimaginings, has Daveed Diggs in final talks to play Sebastian, a Jamaican crab and advisor of King Triton and delivers one of the movie’s most famous songs, “Under the Sea.”
This year, Diggs was in the Netflix film ‘Velvet Buzzsaw’ and Amazon’s series ‘Undone.’ He is famous for playing Thomas Jefferson and Marquis de Lafayette in the Broadway musical ‘Hamilton.’ Next, he will appear in TNT’s ‘Snowpiercer,’ Showtime’s ‘The Good Lord Bird,’ and Pixar’s ‘Soul.’
Halle Bailey, one half of the R&B duo Chloe x Halle, is playing the titular character, Ariel. Jacob Tremblay (‘Room,’ ‘Wonder’), plays Ariel’s companion Flounder, and Awkwafina (‘‘Ocean’s 8,’ ‘Crazy Rich Asians’), is in the role of Scuttle, now as a diving bird instead of a seagull. Melissa McCarthy (‘Bridesmaids,’ ‘Can You Ever Forgive Me?’) will portray Ursula, the sea-witch. Javier Bardem (‘Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales,’ ‘Mother!’) will officially take on the role of King Triton, Ariel’s father. The love interest Prince Eric has not been cast yet.
The premise of the animated film is below:
“A mermaid princess (Bailey) makes a Faustian bargain in an attempt to become human and win a prince’s love.”
Moreover, Rob Marshall (‘Chicago’) will reunite with writer David Magee (‘Life of Pi’) on this film. The two recently did last year’s ‘Mary Poppins Returns.’ The previous draft of the screenplay was from Jane Goldman (‘X-Men: First Class,’ the ‘Kingsman’ films).
Additionally, the film will incorporate songs from the original 1989 version. Returning composer Alan Menken (‘Beauty and the Beast,’ ‘Aladdin’) and Lin-Manuel Miranda (‘Hamilton,’ ‘Moana’) will also create new music.
Further, filming is aiming to begin April 2020, with the studio looking to wrap sometime in August. Locations may include the Cayman Islands and South Africa. Maro, La Cala, Torre del Mar, Almayate, Chilches, Benajarafe, and Torrox are also possible.
There is currently no release date as of now, but it will likely release sometime in 2021. Options include March 12th, May 28th, July 30th, and October 8th.
Source: Variety