Alan Menken, Lin-Manuel Miranda to work on Live-Action Little Mermaid

Legendary composer Alan Menken and Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda have teamed up to work on Disney’s live-action feature adaptation of The Little Mermaid. Reports on this project have finally been confirmed.

According to a report by Entertainment Weekly, Miranda will be producing the project with Marc Platt (also producing the upcoming Mary Poppins Returns, starring Miranda and Emily Blunt.) Miranda will also be making his Mouse House songwriting debut with Disney’s Moana, an adventure set in ancient Oceania starring Auli’I Cravalho and Dwayne Johnson, which is due in theatres on November 23.

Menken wrote the original Little Mermaid’s songs along with the late Howard Ashman, and then wrote additional songs for the 2007 Broadway musical with Glenn Slater (who also collaborated with Menken on Galavant). The Little Mermaid’s unforgettable tunes include “Part of Your World” and “Under the Sea.”

As previously reported, this version of The Little Mermaid is only the latest in a long line of live-action adaptations of Disney animated classics. The most recent releases are The Jungle Book, Alice Through the Looking Glass, Pete’s Dragon, Cinderella, and Maleficent. Upcoming projects include Beauty and the Beast (starring Emma Watson), Cruella, Dumbo, Sword in the Stone, Mulan, Peter Pan, Winnie the Pooh, and a Tinker Bell film.

In a previous interview with EW, Miranda talked about the importance of The Little Mermaid in his life. He says that it was:

“the movie that’s probably the most responsible for me being here. I started taping the Oscars because I wanted to see Geoffrey Holder’s performance of Under the Sea. That was the beginning of the end. Or, the beginning of the beginning, depending on how you look at it…I could sing you not only the songs in Little Mermaid but the music to the score. That’s how important those scores are in my life and in my upbringing.”

Watch this space for more updates on the live-action adaptation of The Little Mermaid.