Disney is finally moving forward on their live-action “The Little Mermaid,” and they’re teaming up with “Hamilton” star Lin-Manuel Miranda to help make it work. According to Deadline, Disney is pairing Miranda with songwriter Alan Menken to write some songs for the adaptation.
The duo is the best of both worlds for Disney. Menken earned two Oscars for his involvement in the original animated classic film. He won for Best Song, in collaboration with Howard Ashman, and Best Score. Miranda is best known for the Broadway smash hit, “Hamilton,” but recently has been teaming up with Disney on a few projects. Along with “The Little Mermaid,” he is signed on to star in the sequel to “Mary Poppins,” and he’s also done work on the upcoming animated film “Moana.”
Along with working on the music, Miranda will produce the film, and while he won’t write the script, it’s expected that Miranda will supervise and develop the story. The full extent of his involvement hasn’t been completely figured out yet.
“The Little Mermaid” joins a long list of live-action adaptations at Disney. This year, “The Jungle Book” and “Pete’s Dragon” have been released, with “The Jungle Book” pulling in almost $1 billion worldwide. Next year, Disney is set to release another blockbuster with “Beauty and the Beast” starring Emma Watson.
There is some competition for the film. Universal is already hard at work on their version of “The Little Mermaid” directed by Rebecca Thomas and starring Chloe Grace Moretz. Of course, Disney has the songs and the prestige, so they’re probably not too concerned.