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Disney’s Live-Action Little Mermaid Reveals a Dazzling New Trailer

The 2023 Oscars give us our best look yet at Rob Marshall's fairy-tale musical starring Halle Bailey, Javier Bardem, and Melissa McCarthy.

Fans of Disney’s The Little Mermaid have been waiting a long time for the live-action version to arrive… or even reveal more than the teeny teaser we got in September. A long time: Halle Bailey’s casting as Ariel was announced inJuly 2019. Finally, though, we’ve got a magical new look at Rob Marshall’s film.

Disney’s track record with live-action (or “live-action,” considering the intense levels of VFX involved) adaptations of its beloved animated classics has been hit or miss (Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, and Lion King, yay; Pinocchio, yikes!), but The Little Mermaid looks like another potential win in the making. It boasts new songs by original composer Alan Menken and some guy named Lin-Manuel Miranda, and a cast that includes not just Bailey, but Jonah Hauer-King as Prince Eric, Javier Bardem as King Triton, and Melissa McCartney as Ursula—plus the voices of Daveed Diggs as Sebastian, Jacob Tremblay as Flounder, and Awkwafina as Scuttle.

The Little Mermaid arrives in theaters May 26.


Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.

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