Ok, we’ll admit, when we first read this headline our reaction was, “wtf?”
The idea of Joe Wright directing a live-action adaptation of “The Little Mermaid” made us bristle at first. Especially since it seems like the polar opposite of his latest film, the action spy thriller “Hanna” starring Saoirse Ronan, Cate Blanchett and Eric Bana, it’s like a teenage version of “La Femme Nikita” (it’s a great script too that Playlist members loved).
And while Disney’s cutesy films comes to mind, we’re thinking that Wright is looking at the project from a perspective that might be closer to something dramatic and enchanting like Neil Jordan’s mermaid fantasy tale, “Ondine” released earlier this year (a mighty fine picture too).
The picture is also set-up at Working Title which shepherded “Pride and Prejudice” and “Atonement.” Further to that point, the original story is based off the Hans Christian Andersen fairytale and the screenplay was written by Abi Morgan (“Brick Lane”), and it was partly inspired by stage production.
The stage production was done by the Little Angel Theatre Company, which was founded by Wright’s father according to Deadline, so we don’t see this being at all like say, a live-action version of “Alice In Wonderland,” or some cartoon to live-action translation that’s as piss poor and unwatchable as Tim Burton’s aforementioned film was. And don’t lump it in with “Sleeping Beauty,” “Cinderella,” “Maleficent” or any other Disney-related live-action caricatures in development (“Snow White,” “Pocahontas” etc. sound like good bets). This one smells like an entirely different beast all together.
