The Little Mermaid star Halle Bailey has said that the upcoming Disney adaptation “will be worth the wait.” The live-action remake of the classic Disney story was first announced back in 2016, with Bailey officially cast in the role of Ariel in 2019. The re-telling is expected to follow a similar story to the original Little Mermaid, with many of the same beloved characters due to appear in live-action form. Bailey confirmed that the iconic song “Part Of Your World” would be included in the remake, but there are also some new songs that will feature in the film.
The cast for The Little Mermaid is undeniably stacked. Alongside Bailey, fans can expect to see Melissa McCarthy as the evil sea witch, Ursula, and Javier Bardem as King Triton, the King of Atlantica and (more importantly) Ariel’s father. Audiences will also see Awkwafina take on the role of Scuttle, while Daveed Diggs will voice Sebastian and Jacob Tremblay will voice Flounder. The movie is helmed by director Rob Marshall, with a script written by David Magee. Hamilton‘s Lin Manuel Miranda will be a producer for the film while also working with composer Alan Menken to create new music for the feature. The film officially wrapped in July earlier this year, however, it was recently confirmed that it would not be hitting theatres until 2023.
Now, speaking to AP Entertainment, Bailey has shared her excitement to have completed filming on The Little Mermaid. The star says that she “cannot wait” for the film’s release. Bailey went on to say that while audiences have “a little while to wait,” she believes it the pay-off will be worth the anticipation. Check out Bailey’s full quote below:
“It was so good to just finish it, I’m so happy to just be like “yeah that’s completed” and I cannot wait for it to be out. I know we have a little while to wait, but I think it will be worth it.“
Bailey joins Disney’s coveted line-up of live-action princesses, joining the likes of Lily James who starred in 2015’s Cinderella, Emma Watson from 2017’s Beauty and The Beast and Naomi Scott from 2019’s Aladdin. The Walt Disney Company also recently announced that a live-action adaptation of Snow White is currently in the very early stages of pre-production, with West Side Story star Rachel Zegler set to star as the titular character. Few further details have been provided at this time, but filming should begin early next year.
Bailey is half of the five-time Grammy-nominated singing duo Chloe x Halle, so there are likely to be some strong vocal performances in The Little Mermaid. The movie is set to be the 21-year-old’s first major role and many are excited to see her debut as the iconic Disney princess, alongside such a star-studded cast. The film has certainly been a long time coming and audiences, unfortunately, still have a long way to go. However, it seems Bailey echoes those sentiments and is equally as excited to see the film finally hit theatres. Considering the caliber of the cast and crew behind this movie, it’s not hard to believe that it will all have been “worth the wait” when The Little Mermaid eventually comes to the big screen on May 26, 2023.
Source: APEntertainment/Twitter
