Halle Bailey will be part of Disney’s world. Disney announced today, the R&B singer and actress has been cast as Ariel in Disney’s next live-action adaptation of “The Little Mermaid.”
“After an extensive search, it was abundantly clear that Halle possesses that rare combination of spirit, heart, youth, innocence, and substance — plus a glorious singing voice — all intrinsic qualities necessary to play this iconic role,” director Rob Marshall said in a statement.
Bailey, best known for her work on Freeform’s Grown-ish and as one half of the singing duo Chloe x Halle took to Twitter immediately after the news broke to share her excitement as you can see in the post below:
dream come true… 🧜🏽♀️🌊 pic.twitter.com/sndjYUS6wO
— chloe x halle (@chloexhalle) July 3, 2019
Bailey is joining a cast that includes Jacob Tremblay and Awkwafina, while Melissa McCarthy is in talks to play Ursula.
The story centers on the mermaid Ariel who yearns to live among humans and finds her wish granted when she trades her voice for legs from the sea witch, Ursula.
“Mary Poppins Returns” director Rob Marshall is helming. The film will incorporate the original songs from the 1989 animated hit as well as new tunes from Alan Menken and Lin-Manuel Miranda. Miranda is also producing the film along with Marshall, Marc Platt and John DeLuca. David Magee wrote the script.
David Magee wrote the latest script for the reboot after Jane Goldman. Marc Platt, Marshall, Miranda and John DeLuca are producers. No release date has been set yet.