Four years after Halle Bailey was officially announced as the live-action Ariel, and two-and-a-half years after filming began – the live-action Disney remake The Little Mermaid movie will finally be coming out in May 2023. And excitingly, Halle Bailey has now seen her Ariel doll for the first time, which is understandably emotional for her.
On Twitter, Bailey released a video of her holding her Disney princess doll with the caption; “The little girl in me is pinching herself right now ..I have my own Little Mermaid Ariel doll!!! I can’t believe how much she captures my version of this iconic character…brb gonna go cry now.”
In the video, she elaborated by saying; “I have something really exciting to reveal to you all, I am gonna cry. This is the new Little Mermaid doll, I am literally choking up because this means so much to me. To have one that looks like me, that’s my favourite Disney character, is very surreal. And look she even has my mole! I’m just stunned. I’m going to steal this and take it home and hide it forever.”
A live-action Little Mermaid movie was first reported as being in development all the way back in 2016, and Rob Marshall has been attached as director since 2017. Halle Bailey was announced as the star in July 2019 and it will be almost four years between that announcement and the release of the movie. After pandemic-related delays, filming began in January 2021, and production was shut down more than once due to COVID.
Disney will obviously be hoping that The Little Mermaid joins Beauty and the Beast (2017), The Lion King (2019), and Aladdin (2019) in making over a billion at the box office. 1989’s The Little Mermaid is considered one of the best Disney movies, and it kickstarted the Renaissance – leading to a period of big box office numbers, as well as critical acclaim.
While we wait for The Little Mermaid, check out the other new movies we have coming in 2023.