Fifty Shades Of Grey Screenwriter In Talks To Rewrite The Little Mermaid

Now that Snow White and the Huntsman and Mirror Mirror have quenched everyone’s thirst for films about that particular fairy tale, and Kenneth Branagh's Cinderella in pre-production stages, the world awaits the next ill-advised re-imagining. And from under the sea and out of left field it emerges.

Screenwriter Kelly Marcel’s short career has already taken her from parallel universes to S&M dungeons, and Deadline reports she’s currently in negotiations to rewrite the screenplay for Hans Christian Andersen’s The Little Mermaid, set to be directed by Joe Wright (Anna Karenina). The script was already worked on by several other writers, including Shame’s Abi Morgan, but Marcel is next in line for the job.

Marcel got her start as a creator and writer for Fox’s ill-fated series Terra Nova before landing the job scripting Saving Mr. Banks, the film starring Tom Hanks as Walt Disney that is sure to attract awards buzz at the end of the year. She was then hired on to adapt the ridiculously popular E.L. James novel Fifty Shades of Grey and somehow turn its deviancies into something that the MPAA won’t completely try to massacre. Interestingly enough, there was a brief rumor that Joe Wright would be directing Fifty Shades, but it was quickly debunked.

Is there anyone who isn’t familiar with the story of The Little Mermaid by now, from either the original text or the Disneyfication? A young mermaid longs to experience life on the surface, immediately falling in love with a prince when she makes it. She eventually has to decide whether or not she wants to give up her oceanic life to become human. There’s no indication whether this film will be animated or live-action, though I’m assuming the latter. Perhaps it will be more like Andersen’s vision, and we can all get weirdly depressed in the end.

For those wanting the more colorful and musical take, there’s only four months left until Disney unleashes The Little Mermaid on Blu-ray in October.

Nick Venable
Assistant Managing Editor

Nick is a Cajun Country native and an Assistant Managing Editor with a focus on TV and features. His humble origin story with CinemaBlend began all the way back in the pre-streaming era, circa 2009, as a freelancing DVD reviewer and TV recapper.  Nick leapfrogged over to the small screen to cover more and more television news and interviews, eventually taking over the section for the current era and covering topics like Yellowstone, The Walking Dead and horror. Born in Louisiana and currently living in Texas — Who Dat Nation over America’s Team all day, all night — Nick spent several years in the hospitality industry, and also worked as a 911 operator. If you ever happened to hear his music or read his comics/short stories, you have his sympathy.