One of the next films to get Disney’s live action remake treatment is the classic American animated musical romantic fantasy film, The Little Mermaid. This film that came out in 1989 follows a rebellious sixteen year old mermaid named Ariel that is fascinated with life on land. On one of her trips to the surface she falls for a human prince named Eric. In order for her to be close to her new love, she makes a deal with her evil aunt Ursula who makes her human for three days in exchange for her voice.

Today via Variety, we have learned about some casting news for the upcoming live action version of the film. It looks like Jonah Hauer-King will be taking on the role of Prince Eric. He has had two screen tests with Rob Marshall, the latest one a few days ago in London. At one point, Harry Styles was in talks for the role, but he ended up passing. Hauer-King joins Halle Bailey who will play the role of Ariel, as well as Melissa McCarthy who will play Ursula. It’s also being reported that Javier Bardem has been tapped to take on the role of King Triton and Daveed Diggs as Sebastian.

Marshall will be directing The Little Mermaid based off a script by David Magee. There are a few iconic songs from original animated film that will be included in the film as well as some new ones from the original composer Alan Menken, with lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda. Miranda is also serving as a producer with Marshall, Marc Platt and John DeLuca. The film is being overseen by Jessica Virtue and Allison Erlikhman.

The Little Mermaid is not one of my top Disney films so I’ve only seen it one or two times. One thing that concerns me is the casting of McCarthy as Ursula but like everything we will have to wait and see. Also I look forward to seeing how they handle all the underwater scenes as well as the animation of Sebastian.

What do you think of the casting of Hauer-King as Prince Eric? Let us know in the comment section below!

RELATED: THE LITTLE MERMAID: DISNEY HAS FOUND ITS LIVE-ACTION ARIEL

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Source: Variety