Next month, Disney will release its live-action remake of The Little Mermaid, a movie that stands a chance of being one of 2023's biggest hits.
How long will we spend under the sea? Well, according to a listing on AMC Theatres (via Toonado.com) the movie's runtime will be 2 hours and 15 minutes. That's 135 minutes, and quite a bit longer than the 1989 animated movie which was a mere 1 hour and 27 minutes/87 minutes.
That means the reboot has added an additional hour of material, no great surprise when most of Disney's live-action movies flesh these cartoons out in a way that makes them a little more palatable for today's audiences.
For example, Beauty and the Beast (129 minutes vs. 84 minutes) and Aladdin (128 minutes vs. 90 minutes) were also lengthened for their respective live-action remakes, and both were massive box office hits for the House of Mouse.
In The Little Mermaid's case, it will be interesting to see how the story has evolved (at the very least, we know there are a few new songs coming our way from Alan Menken and Lin-Manuel Miranda).
In the movie, the youngest of King Triton’s daughters, and the most defiant, Ariel longs to find out more about the world beyond the sea, and while visiting the surface, falls for the dashing Prince Eric. While mermaids are forbidden to interact with humans, Ariel must follow her heart.
She makes a deal with the evil sea witch, Ursula, which gives her a chance to experience life on land, but ultimately places her life – and her father’s crown – in jeopardy.
The Little Mermaid stars singer and actress Halle Bailey as Ariel, Daveed Diggs as the voice of Sebastian, Jacob Tremblay as the voice of Flounder, Awkwafina as the voice of Scuttle, Jonah Hauer-King as Prince Eric, Art Malik as Sir Grimsby, Noma Dumezweni as Queen Selina, with Javier Bardem as King Triton, and Melissa McCarthy as Ursula.
Helmed by visionary filmmaker Rob Marshall, the movie opens exclusively in theaters on May 26, 2023.