Movies - The Little Mermaid: discover the teaser

By Mulder, 15 february 2023

"I'm very proud of this film. It's the hardest movie I've ever done, for sure. Without a doubt... I used complicated, cutting-edge techniques to make it work. I don't think anyone has ever done an underwater musical before. I have to say that every moment in the film had to be choreographed in advance so that we could have a flow for the whole piece. It's crazy all the equipment we worked with, from cables to tuning forks to balances. Thank goodness we had time to rehearse. You always need that on a musical anyway." - Rob Marshall

On May 24, 2023, director Rob Marshall (Chicago, Mary Poppins Returns) will plunge audiences into the heart of the oceans like never before with The Little Mermaid, his live-action reinterpretation of Disney's famous 1989 Oscar-winning animated classic. For this occasion, you can now watch a TV spot with brand new images from the film.

The Little Mermaid is an American musical fantasy film directed by Rob Marshall from a script written by David Magee and Jane Goldman, and a story by Magee, Marshall and John DeLuca. It is a live-action adaptation of the 1989 Disney animated film of the same name, which itself is loosely based on the 1837 fairy tale of the same title, written by Hans Christian Andersen. The film stars Halle Bailey as Ariel, alongside Jonah Hauer-King, Javier Bardem and Melissa McCarthy, with Daveed Diggs, Jacob Tremblay and Awkwafina in vocal roles.

Plans for a remake of 1989's The Little Mermaid were confirmed in May 2016. Marshall joined the film as director in December 2017, and much of the main cast signed on from June to November 2019. Filming took place primarily at Pinewood Studios in England from January to July 2021. The film was co-produced by Walt Disney Pictures, Lucamar Productions, Marc Platt Productions and 5000 Broadway Productions. Lin-Manuel Miranda co-wrote new songs for the remake as lyricist. Alan Menken returned as composer for the score and songs. The film is scheduled to be released in theaters in the United States on May 26, 2023.

The Little Mermaid stars Halle Bailey (Grown-is series) as Ariel; Jonah Hauer-King (World on Fire series) as Prince Eric; Daveed Diggs (Snowpiercer series) as the crab Sebastian in the original version; Awkwafina (Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings) as the seagull Eureka in the original version; Jacob Tremblay (Good boys) as the fish Polochon; Noma Dumezweni (Mary Poppins Returns) as Queen Selina; Art Malik (Homeland) as Sir Grimsby; Javier Bardem (No country for old men) as King Triton and Melissa McCarthy (Can You Ever Forgive Me? ) as the octopus Ursula.

Produced by Marc Platt (LA LA Land), Lin-Manuel Miranda (the musical Hamilton), John DeLuca (Tony Bennett: An American Classic) and Rob Marshall, The Little Mermaid has Jeffrey Silver (The Lion King) as executive producer. The music and original songs are by Alan Menken and Howard Ashman (Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast), who won two Academy Awards for their work on the animated classic of the same name. The lyrics of the new songs are by Lin-Manuel Miranda, with a score by Alan Menken. All the musical moments are supervised and produced by Mike Higham (Mary Poppins Returns, Into the woods).

Filming was originally scheduled to begin in London between late March and early April 2020, but was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Set photos at Pinewood Studios in London, England, leaked a few weeks after production was halted, showing aerial images featuring Prince Eric's ship as well as interior images of what appeared to be his castle. On July 29, 2020, according to a social media post, Jacob Tremblay began recording his script for the film. Filming was to resume on August 10, 2020. In November 2020, Disney's new CEO Bob Chapek announced that filming had resumed on all films that had been postponed during the pandemic shutdowns and, in some cases, completed principal photography. In December 2020, McCarthy said she hoped to begin shooting in January 2021.The following month, Diggs discussed the large amount of work he had to do when it came to preparing and recording dialogue for the role of Sebastian.

Filming officially began at Pinewood Studios in Iver, England, on January 30, 2021, and filming for McCarthy's scenes finally began in April 2021. On April 6, it was announced that additional filming would take place in the summer in Sardinia, Italy, for a total of approximately three months. In June 2021, production was temporarily halted because several members of the film crew contracted COVID-19. Filming resumed about a week later and officially wrapped on July 11, 2021.On December 30, 2021, Bailey shared new behind-the-scenes photos from the shoot, including a glimpse of her portrayal of Ariel. The actress took to Instagram to wrap up her year and shared photos of moments from the film's set. The first photo showed the film's script, which was blurred out to avoid spoilers, but still showed her character's name "Ariel" in bold type. Another photo showed her swimming in the waters of Sardinia, while another showed the process of making the film using CGI. In February 2023, Marshall revealed that he hoped to have post-production work on the film completed by March :

Visual effects will be provided by Industrial Light & Magic, Wētā FX, Moving Picture Company and Framestore. DNEG will handle the stereo conversion. For the Under the Sea sequence, Marshall called it a big, massive musical number and said that creating the underwater environments required "a lot of work ahead of time with John DeLuca and myself to create these musical sequences, to prepare them ahead of time from the storyboards to something called pre-visualization, which is almost like a little miniature animated film, so we know how it flows and how it works .... You're creating a world, you're creating creatures, but it's very important to me that it feels real - you have to believe, you have to care about them, you have to follow their journey."

Synopsis:
Ariel, the youngest daughter of King Triton, is a beautiful and feisty young mermaid with an adventurous streak. A rebel at heart, she is constantly drawn to the world beyond the waves. During her escapades on the surface, she falls under the spell of Prince Eric. Although mermaids are forbidden to interact with humans, Ariel feels she must follow her heart. She makes a deal with Ursula, the terrible sea witch, who grants her the power to live on land, but without suspecting that this pact puts her life and her father's crown in danger...

The Little Mermaid
Directed by Rob Marshall
Screenplay by David Magee, Jane Goldman
Story by David Magee, Rob Marshall, John DeLuca
Based on Disney's The Little Mermaid by Ron Clements, John Musker The Little Mermaid by Hans Christian Andersen
Produced by Rob Marshall, John DeLuca, Marc Platt, Lin-Manuel Miranda
With Halle Bailey, Daveed Diggs, Jacob Tremblay, Awkwafina, Jonah Hauer-King, Javier Bardem, Melissa McCarthy
Cinematography: Dion Beebe
Editing: Wyatt Smith
Music: Alan Menken
Production companies: Walt Disney Pictures, Lucamar Productions, Marc Platt Productions, 5000 Broadway Productions
Distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
Release date: May 26, 2023 (United States)