Singer-actress Halle Bailey has been cast as Ariel in Disney’s upcoming live-action reimagining of The Little Mermaid.
The 19-year-old Bailey, who with her sister forms R&B duo Chloe x Halle, also has a recurring role in Freeform’s sit-com “grown-ish”.
The new “reimagined” version of the classic film will be directed by Rob Marshall (director of “Mary Poppins Returns”) and produced by Marshall, John DeLuca, Marc Platt and Lin-Manuel Miranda, who has previously worked on Disney’s “Mary Poppins Returns” and “Moana”.
The film will feature beloved songs from the animated original by Alan Menken and Howard Ashman, as well as new songs by Menken (music) and Miranda (lyrics).
Production is anticipated to begin in early 2020.
Although no other official casting announcements have been made, stories have been circulating this past week that comedic actress Melissa McCarthy is in talks to lend her voice to evil sea-witch Ursula in the new film. Additional announcements regarding The Little Mermaid are expected in the coming weeks.
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They might be in talks yet and not officially cast, but I’m also very much on board with Jacob Tremblay as Flounder and Awkwafina as Scuttle, the latter casting choice especially. Jacob is an obvious and conventional fit, whereas Awkwafina’s casting shakes things up a bit. (I didn’t mean for that last sentence to rhyme, but let’s consider it an accidental bonus. Heh.)