The Little Mermaid’s live-action remake finally has a release date

Listen up Disney fans — after waiting literally years, we finally have a release date for the highly anticipated live-action remake of The Little Mermaid.

The bad news is that we still have quite a while to wait, as this weekend Disney announced that The Little Mermaid is set to hit US theatres on May 26, 2023.

While filming for this musical phenomenon wrapped this past May, there is still a lot of post-production work to be done.

Disney announced the exciting news that one of their most popular children’s films is getting the live-action treatment back in 2016, with Hamilton’s Lin Manuel Miranda set to co-produce. Now, five years later fans finally have a release date in sight — even if it is in the far distance.

For those unfamiliar with the 1989 Disney classic, The Little Mermaid tells the story of a mermaid named Ariel, who dreams of becoming human and falls in love with a human prince named Eric, which leads her to make a magic deal with the sea witch, Ursula, to become human and be with him.

However, there’s always a catch where magic’s concerned. In exchange for a fresh pair of legs Ariel must give Ursula her voice. Within three days, Ariel must receive the "kiss of true love" from Eric, meaning she’ll get to keep her legs and be with him forever. Otherwise Ariel will turn back into a mermaid and belong to Ursula for the rest of her days.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A post shared by Halle (@hallebailey)

The live-action fairytale stars singing sensation Halle Bailey in the lead role of Ariel, with Melissa McCarthy (Gilmore Girls, Bridesmaids) playing the villainous octopus, Ursula, Daveed Diggs (Broadway’s Hamilton) as Sebastian, Jacob Tremblay (Luca, Wonder) as Flounder, Awkwafina (Ocean’s Eight, Crazy, Rich Asians) as Scuttle and Jonah Hauer-King as Prince Eric.

While Lin-Manuel Miranda is said to have co-written some brand new songs for the remake, Disney legend Alan Menken has returned as a lyricist, composing both the score and the songs.

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