Celebrity News And Gossip: Disney Recognizes Black Excellence, Casts Beyonce Protégés Halle Bailey as Live-Action Little Mermaid
Hollywood has finally accepted it’s time for black excellence to take the lead, at least in the upcoming live-action Little Mermaid movie. Halle Bailey has officially been cast to star in the movie. The movie giants had been searching for months for its lead but has now announced that the the 19-year-old musician will play Ariel.
The R&B singer has been tapped to play Ariel in Disney’s next live-action adaptation of “The Little Mermaid.” Although director Rob Marshall has spent the last couple of months meeting with talent, insiders say Bailey has been a clear front runner from the beginning. “After an extensive search, it was abundantly clear that Halle possesses that rare combination of spirit, heart, youth, innocence, and substance — plus a glorious singing voice — all intrinsic qualities necessary to play this iconic role,” Marshall said in a statement. (Variety)
It’s understood production on the must-see live-action flick is expected to start up next year..
dream come true… 🧜🏽♀️🌊 pic.twitter.com/sndjYUS6wO
— chloe x halle (@chloexhalle) July 3, 2019
The film, produced by John DeLuca, Marc Platt and Lin-Manuel Miranda, will feature the iconic songs from the 1989 animated classic by Alan Menken and Howard Ashman, as well as new songs by Menken and Miranda.Melissa McCarthy has reportedly been cast as the villain, Ursula. Shooting is expected to get underway sometime in 2020. (CNN)
Over the past few years, Bailey has blown up as a musician signed to Disney’s The Lion King star Beyoncé’s label.
Bailey, 19, is best known as one-half of Chloe x Halle, who signed to Beyoncé’s Parkwood Entertainment label after gaining popularity with YouTube covers. The Little Mermaid would be a breakout role for Bailey, whose only other screen credit is as a supporting player on Freeform’s Yara Shahidi series Grown-ish. She is repped by CAA. (The Hollywood Reporter)
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