The DISinsider reports, corroborated by Variety, that Javier Bardem is in talks to take on the role of King Triton in Disney’s live-action Little Mermaid. He’d be playing the father of Halle Bailey‘s Ariel in the film, a role first voiced by Kenneth Mars in the 1989 original animated film.
Bardem joins a cast that also includes Jacob Tremblay as Flounder, Ariel’s best friend who is a fish; Awkwafina as Scuttle, the seagull friend of the princess; and Melissa McCarthy, who is currently in talks to play the role of the vile Ursula. Harry Styles is also in talks to play the role of Prince Eric in the film.
Mary Poppins Returns director Rob Marshall will helm the film which features a script by David Magee (Life of Pi, Mary Poppins Returns). No stranger to musicals, or working for Disney, Marshall was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Director for his feature film debut, Chicago. Since then, he’s helmed the likes of Memoirs of a Geisha and Nine. Marshall has also made his last three films at Disney, including Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, Into the Woods, and the Poppins sequel.
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For their new version of The Little Mermaid, Disney is pairing Lin-Manuel Miranda and Alan Menken to create a blend of old and new songs that will be featured in the upcoming big screen version. Miranda and Marshall also worked together on Mary Poppins Returns.
Purchase the original animated film here.
Disney’s animated The Little Mermaid made over $211 million at the box office and became a bestseller on home video, popularizing songs like “Under The Sea” and “Part of Your World.” Based on Hans Christian Andersen’s Danish fairy tale, it tells the story of a 16-year-old mermaid princess named Ariel who longs to be human.
(Photo by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for NARAS)
