The Little Mermaid Live Action Remake: Cast, Release Date And All The Details

27 April 2023, 17:38

Watch Disney’s live-action Little Mermaid teaser trailer

Halle Bailey is playing Ariel in the remake of The Little Mermaid
Halle Bailey is playing Ariel in the remake of The Little Mermaid. Picture: Disney / Getty
Capital FM

By Capital FM

Disney has remade The Little Mermaid, and it has the most impressive, star-studded cast. Here’s the lowdown including the release date, trailer and more.

Along with a string of other Disney classics, The Little Mermaid is receiving a modern re-boot, following in the footsteps of Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King and Mulan.

Disney confirmed that singer Halle Bailey will be taking the lead role of Ariel, but a number of equally impressive names are also involved in the new movie.

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The 1989 animation film was a huge hit and is still a firm favourite flick to this day but Disney's live-action update will no doubt be using similar CGI tactics they applied in The Lion King and Aladdin.

Here’s everything you need to know about The Little Mermaid's live-action remake from the cast and release date to the trailer and plot…

Chloe x Halle sing 'Be Yourself'

The Little Mermaid Cast

Here's the full cast for The Little Mermaid's live-action remake:

Ariel

Halle Bailey stars as Ariel, after rising to fame through her musical duo with sister Chloe – the girls’ group name is Chloe x Halle.

The 22-year-old began her career by covering pop songs and sharing her renditions on YouTube and went on to make a cameo in Beyoncé’s ‘Lemonade’ visual album during the ‘All Night’ introduction alongside Zendaya.

Scuttle

Crazy Rich Asians star Awkwafina has the role of Ariel’s seagull friend Scuttle.

Awkwafina is in The Little Mermaid cast
Awkwafina is in The Little Mermaid cast. Picture: Getty
Jacob Tremblay is Flounder in The Little Mermaid remake
Jacob Tremblay is Flounder in The Little Mermaid remake. Picture: Getty
Jonah Hauer-King has been cast as Prince Eric
Jonah Hauer-King has been cast as Prince Eric. Picture: PA

Flounder

Jacob Tremblay, 12, will play Ariel’s friendly fish pal Flounder after wowing critics when he made his movie debut in 2015 film Room.

Prince Eric

Jonah Hauer-King is set to play Prince Eric! Although One Direction fans were eager for Harry Styles to land Prince Eric, he is said to have 'politely declined' the role.

Ursula

Melissa McCarthy is set to play Ursula after teasing that she was set to play the villainous sea creature, and we already know she's going to kill it!

Sebastian

Hamilton star Daveed Diggs (Thomas Jefferson & Lafayette obv) has been cast for the role of everyone's favourite singing crab!

Ariel and Prince Eric's character posters unveiled
Ariel and Prince Eric's character posters unveiled. Picture: Disney
Ursula and King Triton's character posters unveiled
Ursula and King Triton's character posters unveiled. Picture: Disney
Sebastian and Flounder's character posters unveiled
Sebastian and Flounder's character posters unveiled. Picture: Disney

The Little Mermaid Release date

We have finally got a confirmed release date for The Little Mermaid and it’s expected to come out on May 26, 2023.

It will be released in theatres first, but Disney is yet to announce whether the movie will premiere at the same time on Disney+.

Halle Bailey is set to play Ariel in The Little Mermaid live-action remake
Halle Bailey is set to play Ariel in The Little Mermaid live-action remake. Picture: Alamy

The Little Mermaid Plot

Disney tends not to veer too far from original storylines when remaking classic movies, so expect the modern version to be close to the traditional plot.

Of course, the traditional plot centres around Ariel, a young mermaid, who makes a deal with a sea witch, to trade her beautiful voice for human legs so she can discover the world above water and impress a prince.

The reboot will also see some brand new songs featured in the film, in addition to the already-iconic soundtrack of the original movie.

The Little Mermaid's remake will be released in 2023
The Little Mermaid's remake will be released in 2023. Picture: Disney/Alamy

The Little Mermaid Trailer

The first teaser trailer for The Little Mermaid remake dropped on September 10 and was even more magical than we dreamed it would be (the teaser can be found at the top of the page).

It showed a glimpse of Halle Bailey as Ariel, we see the stunning CGI of the singer portraying the mermaid swimming under the sea as she beautifully sings the iconic “Part of Your World.”

Our hearts were set racing when the highly-anticipated official trailer for the project dropped in March, fans finally got a detailed look into what they can expect from the movie which is to be released in May. It's safe to say that Halle Bailey is set to blow audiences away as everyone's favourite mermaid!

Watch below!

Watch the official trailer for The Little Mermaid

The Little Mermaid pictures

Halle Bailey has been cast as Ariel in The Little Mermaid
Halle Bailey has been cast as Ariel in The Little Mermaid. Picture: PA

Halle Bailey pictured as Ariel has us so excited to see the movie!

In photos shared by this tabloid, the star can be seen on a Sardinian shoreline with Jonah Hauer-King, where they filmed the famous scene in which Ariel rescues Prince Eric.

Halle Bailey on filming The Little Mermaid remake

On July 12, Halle Bailey, who plays the titular character of Ariel, took to Instagram to reflect on her experience on set as filming for the iconic Disney flick wrapped.

"And just like that..that’s a wrap."

In the emotional post, the 22-year-old triple threat got candid about what the project meant to her.

She wrote: "After auditioning for this film when I was 18 just about to turn 19, to now finishing filming through a pandemic when I turned 21 ..we have finally made it..."

Halle Bailey tells fans she can't wait for them to see The Little Mermaid after she wraps filming
Halle Bailey tells fans she can't wait for them to see The Little Mermaid after she wraps filming. Picture: Halle Bailey/Instagram

The 'Chloe x Halle' songstress went on to gush over her castmates: "I'm so grateful to have such lovely and talented people in the cast like @jonahhauerking that will be my friend for infinite lifetimes."

She went on to extend her gratitude to the star-studded cast, mentioning the likes of Melissa McCarthy and Awkafina.

Halle described the process of filming to be "toughest experience" but it made her "stronger than I ever thought I could be".

She capped off the post with passionate words: "I cannot wait for time to speed up so you all can watch this film because it was made with so much love."

We can't wait either!

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