The Little Mermaid: Sofia Coppola Reveals Why She Departed Live-Action Remake

Sofia Coppola reveals why she left Universal's The Little Mermaid movie

By Matthew Aguilar

Disney's The Little Mermaid is as iconic as they come, and the animated classic received a live-action remake earlier this year starring Halle Bailey as the fan-favorite Ariel. In the director's chair was Rob Marshall (Mary Poppins Returns), but at one point in time, Priscilla and Lost in Translation director Sofia Coppola was developing a Little Mermaid film with Universal Pictures that featured Chloe Grace Moretz in the lead role. Things were moving along on the project but Coppola ultimately departed during development. In a new interview with Rolling Stone, Coppola was asked about her time on the project, and she revealed what the breaking point was that led to her leaving.

When asked if there was a particular breaking point in the Little Mermaid film for Universal, Coppola revealed a particularly telling conversation that had someone asking what in the film would get a 35-year-old man into the audience. "Yes, there was," Coppola said. "I was in a boardroom and some development guy said, 'What's gonna get the 35-year-old man in the audience?' And I just didn't know what to say."

"I just was not in my element. I feel like I was naive, and then I felt a lot like the character in the story, trying to do something out of my element, and it was a funny parallel of the story for me," Coppola said.

Coppola would step away from the project in 2015 with creative differences being the reason. Not long after the project would shut down, with Universal never finding a replacement for Coppola. Coppola's version was based on the darker original story from Hans Christian Andersen, and it's unfortunate that we never had a chance to see that vision hit the big screen.

Coppola's latest film is the anticipated Priscilla, which explores Priscilla's life and her relationship with Elvis and does not shy away from the darker moments along the way. "I never want to, like, take someone down and disrespect them. I think it's sympathetic to see his struggles and the human side, but definitely there's so much folklore of him as this god," Coppola said. 

"There was someone that was trying to get me to take out all the dark stuff," Coppola said. When asked who that was, Coppola said, "Someone kind of involved who was thinking about the perception of Elvis in the film. But I really wanted the ups and downs. You can't have a complex relationship with just the good side."

Baz Luhrmann recently released his own take on Elvis with Austin Butler in the lead role. Coppola knew that Luhrmann was working on the project, and thinks Priscilla is a lovely counterpoint to the film, which doesn't heavily feature Priscilla. "I thought it could be a counterpoint. I knew that Baz was making his movie while I was working on this one," Coppola said. "Someone was like, 'Oh, is that gonna deter you?' And I said, 'No, I think it's even cooler that he's in the culture and people are thinking of him and we can show the other side. She's barely a character [in Elvis]."

Would you have wanted to see Coppola's take on Little Mermaid? Let us know in the comments!

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