Guy Fieri Endorses The Little Mermaid Reboot Fans Casting Him as Ursula

Rob Marshall's The Little Mermaid live-action remake continues deeper into development as the [...]

By Adam Barnhardt

Rob Marshall's The Little Mermaid live-action remake continues deeper into development as the production looks at casting some of the film's biggest roles. Just a few days ago, the movie added Halle Bailey in the titular role and separate reports suggested the team at Disney was looking at casting Melissa McCarthy (Bridesmaids) as Ursula. Even though the role had been filled, fans were quick to take to Twitter to campaign on making celebrity chef Guy Fieri the fan-favorite antagonist in a now-viral tweet.

As of this afternoon, the Mayor of Flavortown himself has taken to the microblogging service to endorse the movement while tweeting some lyrics to the film's iconic "Under the Sea" sing-along.

In addition to the classic song returning for the live-action remake, Marshall previously told us that fans could expect some new songs original to the film thanks to the composing team they've brought on board.

"There are things I've learned about how you have to work to integrate songs into story, and how it has to feel earned. It can't just be sort of put there, placed there, because you feel there should be a song," Marshall told ComicBook.com. "It has to be a song that's earned, that takes you there. And so as we're working on, in a way, fleshing out The Little Mermaid — Ariel has one song in the animated film — and so we're looking for maybe more material."

"Alan Menken and Lin-Manuel Miranda are coming on board to write some lyrics, so that's exciting, to sort of take what was there, which is so beloved, but also find a way to create a live-action version of it," Marshall said, adding "the lessons of creating an original musical have been very helpful so far."

The film is the latest in a line of live-action remakes from Disney. Aladdin, one of the House of Mouse's latest remakes, continues making a killing at the box office, having grossed $899.98 million worldwide through Friday night. Another Disney live-action remake in The Lion King is set for release on July 18th.

Though exact details — such as a release date — still remain scarce, the film is set to be helmed by the Academy Award-nominated Rob Marshall (Chicago) from a script by Jane Goldman (Kingsman franchise) and David Magee (Finding Neverland).

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