What Could Sofia Coppola's 'The Little Mermaid' Look Like?
Reports in Hollywood are suggesting that Sofia Coppola has signed up to direct an upcoming live action version of ‘The Little Mermaid’. What’s that? Sofia Coppola plus the 'Little Mermaid' and it's live action! This sounds like a recipe for something truly magnificent, even if we're not sure what excatly a Coppla helmed 'Little Mermaid' might look like.
Ariel, or the ‘Little Mermaid’ is one of those Disney characters that everybody still has a lot of affection for, no matter how old they are. Maybe it was her fiery red hair or that great singing voice, or perhaps just that the movie’s a perfect piece of Disney magic. Either way the character’s endearing quality is such that any talk of a new screen outing for her is bound to be met with squeals of excitement. Now though, things have got even better.
There’s been buzz for a while that Universal were set to give the ‘Little Mermaid’ a live action remake. The first signs came over 3 years ago when Joe Wright was linked to the project as the director. Instead he’s turned his hand to another former Disney character reimagining the upcoming Peter Pan origin story 'Pan' telling the beginnings of the famous boy who never grew up.
Next: How will Coppola's The Little Mermaid look?
Back when he was linked to the 'Little Mermaid' screenwriter Abi Morgan was also on board and delivered a draft script in 2011. Morgan, who wrote television’s ‘Sex Traffic’ as well as British drama ‘Shame’ said at the time of the story ‘we're going the much more traditional route. It's so beautiful and exquisite and painful’. Then last summer it seemed Morgan was gone and that Kelly Marcel, who’s been behind the ’_50 Shades of Gre_y’ movie script had been called in to do a rewrite. Fast forward to now and Caroline Thompson is the one who will be penning the final draft. Thompson's involvement puts the film in very capable hands. She's best known as Tim Burton's writing colaborator, working on films such as 'Edward Scissorhands', 'The Nightmare Before Christmas', and the 'Corpse Bride'. If anyone can tackle the oringal story's darkness but keep it family friendly, it's Thompson.
The real question of how much the film will stick to the original Hans Christian Anderson story is what we're all wondering. In his 1837 work, the unnamed Mermaid gives up her voice in order to gain legs after falling in love with a handsome prince. However she must make the prince fall in love with her or, at dawn on the first day after he marries another woman, the Little Mermaid will die brokenhearted and disintegrate into sea foam. Without spoilers lets just say Anderson doesn't exactly give his Mermaid a Disney ending.
When Abi Morgan was linked to the project she said the film ‘absolutely had to have the original ending.' Which sounds like a rather sad departure from the Disney version. Coppola is of course no stranger to tackling darker stories, think the ‘Virgin Suicides’. She also has a bit of a soft spot for very unhappy, beautiful girls, so a tragic Mermaid sounds right up her street. There's also the certaintiy that visually we can expect something stunning. The under the sea setting is perfect for Coppola to make use of her dreamy visual style. Also the costumes will probably be fantastic, a la , 'Marie Antoinette', but more waterproof. Then of course there’s the music question, we all remember the Disney songs, but will Coppola’s version contain any musical magic? The director does like to make good use of music in her films so maybe a bit of underwater indie will be in store.
Whichever route Coppola chooses to go with the story we can expect a complete reimagining of the ‘Little Mermaid’, something completely different from the Disney version. Of course some might not be ready yet to meet the real ‘Little Mermaid'’. It’s going be tough to replace the image of Disney’s Ariel in our minds, but a Sofia Coppola version might just be the update the character needs. A cool director at the helm might just be the perfect way to take a character we all grew up with and reimagine her for her now grown up fans and the new generation.
More: Sofia Coppola To Direct The 'Little Mermaid'
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Watch Sofia Coppola enjoying a quiet walk in Manhattan with her kids: