
Last year it was announced that Sofia Coppola was on board to direct a live-action adaptation of The Little Mermaid over at Universal. Since then, news on the production of the film has been slow going, to a point where many had forgotten about the project. Well now comes word that Coppola is dropping out due to “creative differences” and “casting issues.”
Both Deadline cited the creative differences, while Variety says there was a disagreement with casting. According to them, the Lost In Translation director wanted Maya Thurman Hawke, daughter of Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman, to play the role of Ariel. This choice did not sit well with Universal and Working Title. Joe Wright (Pan, Anna Karenina) was actually on the shortlist of possible directors, but he is currently in talks to direct The Lifeboat, which is another project over at Focus Features (Universal’s indie company) and Working Title.
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