'The Little Mermaid' Live-Action Movie News: Rebecca Thomas May Direct; Chloe Grace Moretz Backtracks On "Red Hair" Comment
The live-action adaptation of the Hans Christian Andersen classic, "The Little Mermaid," may have finally found its director. The Wrap reports that director Rebecca Thomas, who has previously helmed the 2012 indie film "Electrick Children," is in talks to take over the director's chair for the upcoming "Little Mermaid" film after Sofia Coppola dropped out of the project.
The movie, which will be produced by Working Title Films and distributed by Universal Pictures, will star Chloe Grace Moretz as the beloved mermaid. Veteran screenwriter Richard Curtis, whose previous works include "Love Actually" and "Notting Hill," is on board to pen the script.
Thomas, who is also tasked to direct the film adaptation of John Green's bestselling young-adult fiction "Looking for Alaska," has met with Moretz and the two seem to have hit it off, The Wrap reports. Pre-production for the "Looking for Alaska" film, which will be produced by Paramount Pictures, is already further along than that for "The Little Mermaid," though the leads for the former are yet to be cast.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
The outlet also reveals that the studio wants Elle Fanning to take on the lead role in "Looking for Alaska." The actress turned down the titular role in "The Little Mermaid" in 2015.
Meanwhile, Moretz has revealed that she has no idea what hair color the Little Mermaid will be sporting for the upcoming live-action version, despite her earlier announcement that the iconic fairytale character will not be sporting the bright red hair of Disney's Arie.
"I actually don't know what the hair color's gonna be!" the actress told Teen Vogue. "That got so blown out of proportion."
The 18-year-old "Carrie" actress explained, "We don't have a director attached to the project yet, so once that happens, we're going to get creative and all powwow and create our version of The Little Mermaid and what we want it to be."
"When that happens, I'm sure we'll get a really good candid photo and release it so everyone can figure it out!" she added.
