The live action The Little Mermaid remake UK release date is in the bag (full details below), so we’ll also cover the latest on the age rating and everything else you need to know about the film. This will include the cast and story, but we’ll be surprised if any of you don’t know the plot for the latest Disney live action film already.
It’ll follow in the footsteps of other recent live action films like The Lion King in 2019, which was even bigger at the box office than it’s animated predecessor. We’ve also had remakes for The Jungle Book and Beauty and the Beast on the big screen, as well as the Disney+ stream for Lady and the Tramp.
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Plot
However, her angry dad King Triton forbids her from going to the surface, so she turns to the sea witch, Ursula, who uses her magic to transform her into a human. With her newfound legs, she’s got to go to the surface and win the Prince’s heart lest she forfeit her soul to the callous octopus.
The live action remake comes a whopping 34 years after the release date for animated Disney version of The Little Mermaid in 1989. Like all of the other live performance reboots we’ve had recently, the 2023 film will have the same plot, but with a new cast to bring the story to life.
Cast
The Little Mermaid remake cast is being led by newcomer, Halle Bailey, as Ariel, who is best known as one half of the R&B duo Chloe x Halle. She’s also set to star in the remake of The Color Purple, so there’s definitely a story recreation theme going on.
AdvertisementShe’s joined by Jonah Hauer-King as Prince Eric, Daveed Diggs as Sebastian, and Jacob Tremblay as Flounder. The case also includes Noma Dumezweni (Mary Poppins Returns) as Queen Selina, and Art Malik (Doctor Who) as Sir Grimsby.
The big names are Javier Bardem (Skyfall) as King Triton, Awkwafina (Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings) as seagull Scuttle, and Melissa McCarthy (Bridesmaids) as the sea witch octopus of romantic doom, Ursula.
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The Little Mermaid remake UK release date
When the very first teaser trailer arrived it looked like this was going straight to Disney+, but the arrival of the latest trailer has confirmed it for the cinema. The Little Mermaid remake UK release date is currently set for May 26th, 2023, and it’ll be coming out on the same day in North America.
AdvertisementThe biggest competition it’ll have at the box office will come from Fast X, which is out a week earlier on both sides of the Atlantic. It’ll then have Spider-Man Across the Universe a week later, so there’s going to be some big films slugging it out for the number one spot.
They’ve all got slightly different audiences though, so there could be space for all three of them to do well on their opening weekend. They’re all out around the summer half-term holidays too, so there’s plenty of scope for The Little Mermaid (2023) to land big.
The remake is also bound to release on Disney+ at some time later in the year, so we’ll update you with more details as they become available. We’ve already seen a little complexity for Disney films this year in terms of when they’ll be available to stream, so that could be the case again here.
It should be a little more straightforward with the DVD, Blu-ray and standard digital release date, and we’re expecting these to land in September in the UK and maybe a little earlier in North America. However, before this we should get early access rental and purchase, but this was skipped entirely by Avatar The Way of Water, so we’ll have to wait and see.
UK and North America age rating and parents guide
AdvertisementThe Little Mermaid remake age rating has been confirmed to be PG in the UK by the BBFC with details arriving as we got closer to the film coming out. However, there was plenty to take from the previous Disney live action films, which gave us a good ball to consider.
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Each of them have picked up a PG certificate, starting with The Jungle Book back in 2016 with just mild threat as the parents guide header. The Little Mermaid has a lot in common with all of the others with Ursula being the biggest threat with similarities to Sher Khan from The Jungle Book, Scar from The Lion King and Jafar from Aladdin.
We’ll be very surprised if the age rating is at all dissimilar to the previous remakes and that should be the case in North America too where they also been given a PG certificate. Disney animated films usually get U classification, but the live action films are PGs and with Ursula looking pretty dark in the trailer it will probably be the again.
Runtime
As with the age rating, the runtime will be confirmed when there’s a few weeks to go to The Little Mermaid remake release date. However, with all of the other live action films out, we can make a few educated assumptions, especially if we cross reference this with the animated version.
AdvertisementThe shortest Disney live action film was The Jungle Book and it clocked in at 1 hour and 42 minutes. The longest was Beauty and the Beast, which was 2 hours and nine minutes, so if you split the difference, you’re looking at a runtime of around 2 hours.
The original version of The Little Mermaid was crazy short at just 1 hour and 23 minutes, so it’s possible that it will be less than the estimate above. However, probably not by much, because the animated Aladdin was 1 hour and 30 minutes, but the live action remake was 2 hours and 8 minutes, so there’s bound to be a certain amount of padding again in 2023.
Trailer
If we’re being honest, the production value of The Little Mermaid remake looked a little low when it was first teased, but the latest trailer above paints a very different picture. Halle Bailey looks cool as Ariel and the Disney magic has worked its charm to make the live action adaptation as impactful as its predecessors.
The shipwreck sequence is Titanic-like and the addition of Javier Bardem and Melissa McCarthy to the cast has definitely paid off. Awkwafina works well as Scuttle and Daveed Diggs makes for a good Sebastian, albeit with some pretty big boots follow in with Samuel E. Wright voicing the character in the animated version of the film.
If the trailer is anything to go by then the big moments from the original like Ursula’s attack and the Kiss The Girl sequence, should be visually impressive. The CGI has been honed to perfection to bring the under the sea world to life, so hopefully the full film can live up to the brilliance of the 1989 film.
We’ll update you with more details on the film, especially the age rating, as they get confirmed. You can also check out our movie news section to keep up with the latest upcoming films, or visit the official The Little Mermaid remake webpage at www.disney.co.uk/movies/the-little-mermaid.
