Casting is underway for the live-action version of "Little Mermaid" and the latest actor to snag a role is William Moseley for the MVP Studios production. However, the Hans Christian Andersen classic remains a popular story that there's not just one film in the works. Universal and Disney are also producing their live-action versions.
Deadline reports that Moseley will join Poppy Drayton, William Forsythe, Loreto Peralta, Gina Gershon, Diahann Carroll and Shirley MacLaine in "A Little Mermaid," which will have Chris Bouchard helming behind the camera and Blake Harris as screenwriter. This take on the 1837 fairy tale will center on a young girl and her older brother, a reporter, who tracks a woman in a small town in Mississippi. It is believed that this woman is the real "Little Mermaid."
"We're thrilled to be launching MVP Studios with 'A Little Mermaid,' a magical adventure that uses the beloved fairytale as its jumping off point, but is an all-new story with all-new characters that the entire family can enjoy," said producers Robert Molloy and Armando Gutierrez in a statement per Variety.
On the other hand, Universal's production has found its mermaid in Chloe Grace Moretz, whose casting was announced in November 2017, per E! Online. This version will follow the more familiar story of a mermaid longing to live among humans. Richard Curtis was tasked to write the script, while the movie is still on the hunt for a director after Sofia Coppola dropped out of the project. "The Little Mermaid" is slated for 2017.
"A modern tale is what we're going after and we're making it progressive for young women," Moretz said of "The Little Mermaid" in a video interview with Entertainment Tonight. She's also not going to dye her hair to follow Arielle's style from the Disney cartoons.
Meanwhile, Disney is also bent on doing the movie after the success of the animation that the studio released in 1989. However, not much has been confirmed about this film's development, nor have there been any cast announcements for now.
Which "Little Mermaid" version are you most eager to watch when it's out?
