Disney has finally released the official trailer for the live-action musical remake of its 1989 classic animated film, The Little Mermaid. The media and entertainment company unveiled the trailer at the 95th Academy Awards on Sunday with two of its stars, Halle Bailey and Melissa McCarthy, heralding the introduction.
The trailer opens with Prince Eric’s ship in the middle of a storm. Ariel then rescues him and deposits him on the shore before running away when his men come looking for him. Back in her underwater kingdom of Atlantica, Ariel is chastised by her father, King Triton, for visiting the surface world.
However, Ariel doesn’t listen. Instead, she visits the witch Ursula who grants her wish to become a human so she can live in the surface world. The trailer then shows Ariel singing the film’s soundtrack and experiencing the surface world with the prince, who she has fallen in love with.
The Little Mermaid’s soundtrack was created by the Grammy Award winner Lin Manuel-Miranda and Alan Merken, who scored the original film and co-wrote its songs with the late Howard Ashman. While the remake will feature songs from the animated film, it will also feature four new songs by Manuel-Miranda and Merken.
The Little Mermaid is the latest live-action remake in a long line of Disney animated classic remakes that include The Lion King, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, and Mulan. The entertainment company has plans for remakes of Hunchback, Bambi, Lilo & Stitch, Hercules, and Snow White with each of them at varying stages of development, alongside sequels to Aladdin and Jungle Book.
It will arrive in cinemas following the Disney+ debut of Peter Pan & Wendy, Disney’s live-action adaptation of its 1953 animated film titled Peter Pan.
The Little Mermaid stars Halle Bailey as Ariel with Jonah Hauer-King, Akwafina, Melissa McCarthy, Javier Bardem, Daveed Diggs, and Noma Dumezweni portraying Prince Eric, Scuttle, Ursula, King Triton, Sebastian, and Queen Selina respectively. The film is directed by Rob Marshall and based on a screenplay by David Magee with Lin Manuel-Miranda, Rob Marshall, John DeLuca, and Marc Platt as producers.
The Little Mermaid will arrive in theaters on May 26.
