Initially scheduled to start production in April, The Little Mermaid is just one of the countless projects put on hold due to the Coronavirus outbreak. However, Alan Menken has taken to social media to reveal some details about the upcoming remake.
The legendary composer was recently on a live stream with Rosie O’Donnell, where he told the former talk show host that he’s worked on “four new songs” for the film. And even better news, he’s completed all of the songs for the upcoming movie with collaborator Lin-Manuel Miranda.
Check out the clip below (link via Brian Saeger’s Twitter):
Disney Legend/Composer, Alan Menken just dropped some handful of news during @TheActorsFund hosted by @Rosie
• 4 brand new songs will be part of the live action “The Little Mermaid” 🧜🏻♀️
• Music for Disenchanted
• Hercules is heading to broadway pic.twitter.com/yBWtmGJjXZ— Brian Saeger (@SkywalkerBrian) March 23, 2020
During this conversation with O’Donnell, Alan Menken also revealed that he’s still working on the music for the Enchanted sequel, Disenchanted. No word on the release date for that project, but the news that Menken is still working on the songs is good for fans of the Disney film.
In another surprising bit of news from the live stream, Menken also dove into Disney’s plans for a Broadway remake of the hit ’90s animated film Hercules. While he offered no other details, it seems like Menken is busier now than ever.
The Little Mermaid is being directed by Rob Marshall (Mary Poppins Returns) from a script by David Magee (Finding Neverland) and will star Halle Bailey (Grown-ish) as Ariel, Jonah Hauer-King (Little Women) as Prince Eric, Melissa McCarthy (Can You Ever Forgive Me?) as Ursula, Awkwafina (Crazy Rich Asians) as Scuttle, Jacob Tremblay (The Predator) as Flounder, Daveed Diggs (Blindspotting) as Sebastian and Javier Bardem (Everybody Knows) as King Triton.
