Back in 2016, Disney has announced its plan to develop a live-action version of “The Little Mermaid”, and now a new rumour has surfaced claiming that the House of Mouse plans to cast Zendaya as the titular character.
It has been reported by That Hashtag Show that someone close to Disney has revealed that former Disney Channel star Zendaya has been offered to play the leading role of Ariel. However, the actress or the studio refused to comment on the report.
Seeing that now we are in the era of inclusivity and women’s empowerment, it only make sense that the studio is trying to put a little spin on “The Little Mermaid” live-action remake by casting a woman of colour.
Even the recent remakes of Disney classics feature many notable changes as compared to the originals such as the inclusion of a gay character in “Beauty and the Beast”, or the portrayal of Maleficent as anti-hero instead of a villain.
Since it is confirmed that the remake will definitely be a musical, then casting Zendaya would be a good choice as the actress has shown her singing chops in 20th Century Fox’s musical “The Greatest Showman”, and not to mention that she is already a successful pop singer in her own right with hit songs like “Butterflies” and “Replay”.
However, casting Zendaya would mean that Disney will also need to cast people of colour to Ariel’s father King Triton and also her 6 elder sisters, making this a huge departure from the original Disney adaptation based on Hans Christian Andersen’s story.
Surely, this will not sit well with many fans of the original movie and those who are particular for accuracy from the source material. Before, Zendaya has also received backlashes for her role in “Spider-Man: Homecoming” as Peter Parker’s new love interest, replacing the role of Mary Jane Watson.
Nevertheless, this is just a rumour and nothing is confirmed yet. What has been confirmed is that Alan Menken and Lin-Manuel Miranda will be composing the music for it, while “Mary Poppins Return” director Rob Marshall will be helming the film from a script by Jane Goldman.
Zendaya is not the only one rumoured to play the titular role. Previously, there were also rumours that Lindsay Lohan, Chloe Grace Moretz and Ariana Grande were in consideration to play the mermaid princess.
Source: That Hashtag Show.
