After Sofia Coppola was initially set to direct the new adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen’s fairytale ‘The Little Mermaid’, Deadline broke the news that the ‘Lost in Translation’ director has bid the project goodbye due to creative differences.
Coppola is then expected to be working on a new Netflix feature titled ‘A Very Murray Christmas’ with which she will be working once again with ‘Lost in Translation’ star Bill Murray.
With Coppola and Murray co-writing the script alongside producer Mitch Glazer, the 2015 Christmas story will follow Murray celebrating the holidays with George Clooney, Amy Poehler and Miley Cyrus, to name a few, who will all be playing themselves.
Caroline Thompson, who previously worked on ‘Edward Scissorhands’, is already rewriting ‘The Little Mermaid’, which was earlier drafted by Kelly Marcel, known for working on ‘Saving Mr. Banks’ and ‘Fifty Shades of Grey.’
First published in 1837, ‘The Little Mermaid’ follows the story of a young mermaid who exchanges her life in the sea for a human prince. Multiple film and stage adaptations of Andersen’s story have been made and the new version was initially reported to take inspiration from a children’s puppet theater production of ‘The Little Mermaid’ at London’s Little Angel Theatre Company.
Details about the story’s new film adaptation have yet to be announced, although with the given individuals who are set to develop the movie, it has been suggested that the new ‘Little Mermaid’ might have a darker tone and become a more mature take on the story as compared to the popular Disney animated musical released in 1989.
After all, the original tale highlights the titular mermaid’s risks when it comes to heartbreak and death in order to stay on land and win the heart of a prince.
Meanwhile, live-action adaptations for various classic fantasy tales are already in the works in Hollywood; these include ‘Tink’, which follows the story of the popular pixie from ‘Peter Pan’ starring Reese Witherspoon as well as a new ‘Beauty and the Beast’ adaptation with which Emma Watson and Dan Stevens have been set to play the titular roles.
Upcoming live-action remakes on ‘Pinocchio’, ‘Mulan’ and ‘The Jungle Book’ have also been placed on Disney’s upcoming slate.
The studio achieved great success in the box office last year with ‘Maleficent’, a film adaptation loosely based on the classic tale ‘Sleeping Beauty’, which starred Angelina Jolie.
This year, Kenneth Branagh’s take on ‘Cinderella’ has also become a huge commercial success and grossed over $500 million at the global box office.
