He did a song for Star Wars: The Force Awakens, he’s helping with songs for Moana, he’s starring in and doing songs for Mary Poppins Returns and now, Lin-Manuel Miranda is about to join another Disney film, the live-action adaptation of The Little Mermaid.
Deadline reports Miranda, the Pulitzer Prize and Tony award-winning creator of the Broadway smash Hamilton, will join original songwriter Alan Menken to help with the music for an upcoming remake of The Little Mermaid. No writer or director have been set yet, but this is a big step forward for an adaptation that’s been in talks for a while.
All of Menken’s memorable songs from the original will be in the film, so what Miranda’s specific role will be is still being worked out. You’d think he’d assist in bringing those songs to live-action, maybe help write a few new ones and who knows what else. Depending on timing, Deadline suggests he could even write the script but, as of now, he’s only “supervising the story”.
The latest live-action Disney adaptation, Pete’s Dragon, is out September 15. Next is Beauty and the Beast, out in the US on March 17, with several more in various stages of development.
[Deadline]