There’s a good chance over the weekend you heard word that Disney’s next live-action remake, The Little Mermaid, was attempting to make a splash, casting-wise. Melissa McCarthy was being circled to play the part of Ursala. This was met by people on the internet finding the decision to be wholly underwhelming or straight-up perplexing. Well, today 2 more pieces of casting news cropped up. While one is what you’d expected, the other shows the Mouse House is willing to make left field calls. The Hollywood Reporter has the scoop that none other than Awkwafina and Jacob Tremblay are currently in talks to join the picture.
Now, if you take two seconds, you can easily guess who Tremblay is being sought for. Flounder, of course. It’s perfect casting and smart to take advantage of Tremblay being crystalized in this state for, at best, a year or two more. Where things take a turn for the better, is in Awkwafina’s role. She’s up for the part of Scuttle, the lovable loudmouth seagull, who helps Ariel on her journey. Now, in the animated classic, the part was voiced by Buddy Hackett. Awkwafina. Hackett. The parallels are numerous. It’s an inspired choice and hopefully not the only shakeup the studio takes.
Alongside whomever else is cast (Ariel is still well up in the air), at least one familiar name will be making a return. Original composer Alan Menken will be back, working alongside Lin-Manuel Miranda. Meanwhile, directorial duties belong to Rob Marshall, whose Mary Poppins Returns Miranda worked on and was met with middle-of-the-road reviews. They two will be hoping to rebound this time out. Seeing as how The Lion King is set to decimate ticket sale numbers, there has to be something pretty spectacular to follow it up. When more The Little Mermaid news becomes available, we’ll update you.
