While we can expect a live action remake of Disney's 'The Little Mermaid' to come eventually in the next few years, another version of the Hans Christian Andersen story is set to arrive later this year - and the new trailer has had people extremely divided.

The Little Mermaid'The Little Mermaid' is the new non-Disney version of the fairytale

It was supposed that this new version would perhaps be a more faithful adaptation of 19th century fairytale, but in fact it bears no similarity to the Andersen story or, indeed, the Walt Disney version. The new trailer sees a grandmother (Shirley MacLaine) reading a story of mermaids to her granddaughters, before flashing back to several decades previously where a reporter named Cam Harrison (William Moseley) sets out to discover the truth about Dr Locke's Miracle Mermaid Elixir. 

Cam takes along his niece, Elle (Loreto Peralta), to a circus in Mississippi where they meet Dr Locke (Armando Gutierrez) and, Elizabeth (Poppy Drayton), his charge; a young brunette mermaid in a glass tank of water. Elle bumps into Elizabeth again later, but this time she has legs. 

While she won't explain how this miracle occurred, she tells Elle a tale of her own land about a little girl blessed with the heart of a mermaid. It's not all happy story, however; Dr Locke has taken Elizabeth's soul and keeps it in a magical vial, binding her to him. She'll die without it, and so Elle and her uncle must set out to rescue their sea-dwelling friend. 

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Of course, it's very clear that Shirley MacClaine (while her character has not been confirmed) is playing Elle as an old lady, that's predictable enough, but there is something about the twee aesthetic that has had people taking to Twitter to express their distaste. 

'The Little Mermaid' has been directed by Chris Bouchard ('Hackney's Finest') and Blake Harris ('12 Dates of Christmas'), with the latter having also written the screenplay. It is expected to be released later this year.