Rob Marshall in line to direct The Little Mermaid

Rob Marshall is currently the top choice to direct Disney’s live-action remake of ‘The Little Mermaid’.
The 57-year-old filmmaker – who helmed Academy Award winning ‘Chicago’ and recently directed ‘Mary Poppins Returns’ – looks to be taken on the next Disney live-action remake of the 1989 classic, Deadline reports.
‘The Little Mermaid’ follows Princess Ariel – a mermaid who has an obsession with the human world above sea level – who, on one of her visits to the surface, falls in love with Prince Eric after she rescued him from drowning.
Determined to be with her new love, Ariel makes a deal with the sea witch Ursula to become a human for three days but has to give up her voice for payment.
The deal turns sour when it turns out Ursula’s plan was to use the naïve princess to take control over the seas from King Triton.
The original classic featured songs including ‘Under the Sea’ – which won the Academy Award for Best Song – and ‘Part of Your World’.
The film also earned four Golden Globe nominations including Best Picture – Comedy or Musical and won the awards for Best Song and Best Score.
In the upcoming remake, ‘Hamilton’ creator Lin-Manuel Miranda – who also provided the music for Disney’s ‘Moana’ – will score new songs along with Disney regular Alan Menken.
Although it is unclear as to whether the new film will follow the same story as the original, ‘Kick-Ass’ scribe Jane Goldman is writing the script.
This project joins Disney’s ever-growing franchise of live-action reboots, which has included ‘Maleficent’, ‘Cinderella’, ‘The Jungle Book’ and most recently, the box office smash ‘Beauty and the Beast’.
Among the other remakes being lined up are ‘The Lion King’, ‘Mulan’ and ‘Dumbo’.