Disney just can’t quit Rob Marshall, can they? The director has already directed three movies for the Mouse House: Into the Woods, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, and he’s currently wrapping up on Mary Poppins Returns. But that simply isn’t enough, so now he’s been offered to direct Disney’s live-action The Little Mermaid.
Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz….
Yeah, Marshall’s a pretty boring and obvious choice, but he’s made Disney a lot of money so it’s easy to see why they love him. The film should be a musical right up Marshall’s alley with music from Hamilton‘s Lin-Manuel Miranda and the legendary Alan Merken. The good news is that Disney is clearly happy with Marshall’s work on Mary Poppins Returns, which means it should make quite a splash when it arrives next holiday season.
On the other hand, Universal has their own live-action adaptation in the works…somewhere, and it sounds like they’re willing to push a few boundaries with the underwater tale. Sophia Coppola had been eyed to direct with Chloe Moretz as Ariel. But that one has sunken “under the sea” and may never come up to air. You can bet Disney won’t let the same thing happen to them. [Deadline]
