He has Moana. He has Mary Poppins Returns. Eventually, he’ll have The Little Mermaid, too. But that’s not all when it comes to Lin-Manuel Miranda’s relationship with Disney. He’s also working on a secret movie with Byron Howard, one of the directors of Zootopia.
Lin-Manuel Miranda, here with Dwayne Johnson at the Moana premiere, is working on a new Disney movie. Image: Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images for Disney
Speaking to Vulture, the award-winning writer of Hamilton revealed that after his successful time working on Moana, Disney chief creative officer John Lasseter was eager to work together again.
“That’s the fun thing about working with someone and having it go well. You go, ‘OK, what else can we do?’” Miranda told Vulture. “Lasseter took me aside and said, ‘I have an idea: Here’s Byron, and you guys should start talking.’”
At this point, that’s all that’s happened. He and Howard have talked about the project. Which means, if the project ever happens, it could be a decade down the road. Animated films, especially ones at Disney, are in development for years before the public knows anything about them. And sometimes, they get cancelled.
For now, though, Miranda is about to go shoot the live-action Mary Poppins sequel, and his role on The Little Mermaid live-action film is a bit in flux.
“We’re in super-early talks. I literally don’t have a title for what my job on The Little Mermaid is yet,” Miranda said. “If this requires new music, I’m here for that, and if this requires me weighing in on who makes this thing, I’m here for that. If this requires me just saying, ‘That doesn’t look like it’s underwater,’ I’m even here for that! It’s going to be a huge challenge to not make it feel uncanny valley-ish.”
His first Disney collaboration, Moana, is in theatres December 26.
[Vulture]