Lin-Manuel Miranda to produce and write for Disney’s live-action ‘Little Mermaid’
Disney must be very happy with Lin-Manuel Miranda’s work on “Moana,” because it has signed him on for another high-profile project: a live-action retelling of “The Little Mermaid.”
The “Hamilton” wordsmith will produce the film, supervise the story and team up with Alan Menken to write the music, Deadline Hollywood is reporting.
This is the third big project Miranda is now attached to for Disney. “Moana,” for which he co-wrote the music, is due in theaters this fall. He is also starring in a live-action sequel to “Mary Poppins,” alongside Emily Blunt, Meryl Streep and Ben Whishaw.
The legendary Menken, of course, won two Oscars for the 1989 animated “Little Mermaid”: one for Best Score, and one with Howard Ashman for Best Song. Deadline reports that the new film will be “a mix of pre-existing songs” from the animated film.
How much was this meant to be? Miranda named his young son Sebastian. And he sat down with Menken to make a digital “#Ham4Ham” show in January, singing songs from — you guessed it — “The Little Mermaid.” Just look at Miranda’s face when Menken starts playing:
