Yes, the live-action remake of The Little Mermaid is going ahead but no, Sofia Coppola will no longer be directing it after reported 'creative differences'. According to Variety, the director had spent months trying to figure out who should play Ariel with the Universal studio bosses and left after continual clashes to do with the all-important lead role.
According to sources, Sofia was interested in casting Uma Thurman and Ethan Hawke's daughter, Maya Thurman Hawke, but Universal weren't happy with this decision, leading to her departure. Universal aren't commenting as of yet, but the project is still going ahead as usual with producers Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner at the helm, while a new director is found.
Sofia Coppola is the second director to leave the project since it began in 2011, after Joe Wright also reportedly quit - and the race is on as to whether Disney gets there first, considering they seem to be storming through the stories, turning them into live-action tales. And it's working - Maleficent did impressively well at the box office, as did Cinderella, and all eyes are on the remake of *Beauty and the Beast *starring Emma Watson as Belle, that's currently in production.
A shame that Sofia won't be on board for The Little Mermaid, and we're interested to see the Ariel that the studio bosses go for...
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This article originally appeared on The Debrief.