Joe Wright Directing Live-Action 'Little Mermaid'

There have been a few takes on The Little Mermaid, the Hans Christian Andersen story that is almost certainly better known as a Disney cartoon than it is in its original form. Now director Joe Wright (Atonement) will bring the fairy tale back to theaters as a live-action film. Cinematical reports that the new adaptation has been written by Abi Morgan, whose new take was inspired by a puppet show at the Little Angel Theatre Company. It's an interesting choice for Wright, whose arc goes like this: Pride & Prejudice, Atonement, The Soloist, next year's teen assassin thriller Hanna, the historical drama Indian Summer with Cate Blanchett, and now The Little Mermaid. That's pretty diverse. The story has apparently never been turned into a live-action film in English before, so that's part of the appeal, but I wonder if they'll keep the name? There's so much attached to the Disney film that a comparison is almost automatic, but Andersen didn't plan for his story to have songs and such, so it could be unfair to put this version side-by-side with the more familiar film. A good sign is that Wright will work again with Working Title, the only production house he's dealt with to this point, and that means this will more likely than not wind up at Focus Features or it could be a Universal/Focus undertaking.

Comments

[faulty logic]

Maybe he'll keep with the original story and let the mermaid die at the end.
Is anything known about the puppet show?

[Lillian James]

I'm super excited about this. Joe Wright is kind of amazing.

[Juliana Ferretti]

Sorry my english.
I´m singer and actress and I love The Little Mermaid.
When and where are the moves auditions The Little Mermaid?
Please, this is very important for me.
Thanks