Little Mermaid: Newcomer Jonah Hauer-King to play Prince Eric in Disney's live-action remake

Little Mermaid has found its Prince Eric in Jonah Hauer-King, who has previously starred in TV miniseries Howard’s End, Little Women and A Dog's Way Home. According to Variety, Harry Styles was in the running for the role but eventually turned it down "to focus on putting music out".

Jonah Hauer-King. Image from Twitter

Ariel will be played by singer Halle Bailey in the live-action remake, which marks her feature film debut. Little Mermaid will be directed by Rob Marshall, who helmed Chicago and Mary Poppins Returns. Javier Bardem is set to portray Ariel''s father, King Triton; Daveed Diggs as Sebastian the crab; Jacob Tremblay is the tropical fish Flounder and Awkwafina will voice for Scuttle, the talking seagull.

The live-action version will include original songs from the 1989 animated hit as well as new tunes from the original composer Alan Menken and Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda. Some of the tunes include 'Under the Sea,' 'Part of Your World' and 'Kiss the Girl.'

The script has been penned by David Magee while Jane Goldman wrote the initial draft. Miranda is also producing the project along with Marshall, Marc Platt, and John DeLuca. Jessica Virtue and Allison Erlikhman are overseeing on behalf of Disney.

(With inputs from agencies)