'The Little Mermaid' Live-Action Movie Update: Chloe Moretz to Play Main Character
Universal is planning to make a live-action movie of Hans Christian Andersen's "The Little Mermaid" and fans of the fairy tale can't wait especially since the main character has been casted already.
According to Variety, "Kick-Ass," "Carrie," and "If I Stay" star Chloe Moretz is set to swim the vast oceans as the little mermaid who desires to become human after falling in love with a man she saved from drowning. The 18-year-old actress also confirmed the announcement through her Instagram account wherein she posted her excitement for her role in the upcoming movie.
She wrote that after "waiting months to tell everyone," it's finally here. She expressed how excited she is to take on the "beautiful journey" with Working Title and Universal. She also mentioned Richard Curtis who is reported to have penned the script.
Little is known of how this upcoming remake of "The Little Mermaid" will go but Comic Book noted that it will be much closer to the 1837 fairy tale. Disney's animated version of the movie was only loosely-based on the Hans Christian Anderson tale as the original had a much darker ending.
It has also been detailed that Moretz had always been the first choice as the star for the project even when director Sofia Coppola was still attached to it. But Coppola left the project earlier in the year after having "creative differences with the studios." Some rumors say that she didn't push through with helming the film because she had wanted Maya Thurman Hawke to play the legendary aquatic creature, according to Jezebel and another report in Variety. Maya is the daughter of Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman.
As of now, no one has been tapped yet to take over the director's chair but Working Title's Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner will produce. The executive producers for this film will be Liza Chasin and Amelia Granger. Exec VP of Production Erik Baiers and creative executive Chloe Yellin will supervise for Universal.