The Little Mermaid’s Halle Bailey has been cast in Universal Pictures’ new, still untitled musical.
Per Deadline, Bailey has been cast in an undisclosed role in the new Universal Pictures musical that is being directed by Michel Gondry and produced by Pharrell Williams.
The film will also star Kelvin Harrison Jr. (It Comes at Night, Mufasa: The Lion King) and recent Oscar winner Da’Vine Joy Randolph (The Holdovers).
Bailey is a singer-songwriter who booked her first major acting role when playing Skylar “Sky” Forster on ABC’s Grown-ish. She then played Ariel in the live-action remake of The Little Mermaid, which was directed by Rob Marshall and released in 2023.
She also played a young Nettie Harris in 2023’s The Color Purple and stars alongside Angus Cloud, Alex Wolff, Lewis Pulman, and Scoot McNairy in The Line, which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in July 2023.
What else do we know about the new Universal musical?
According to Deadline, the musical is set in 1977 Virginia Beach and “draws inspiration from Williams’ childhood growing up in the city’s Atlantis Apartments.” Further plot details remain under wraps at this time.
The script for the film was written by Martin Hynes and Steven Levenson. Along with Williams, the movie is being produced by Mimi Valdés and Gil Netter. Ryan Jones and Christine Sun are overseeing the project for Universal.
Gondry is best known for directing 2004’s Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. He also previously helmed 2008’s Be Kind Rewind, 2011’s The Green Hornet, 2012’s The We and the I, 2013’s Mood Indigo, 2015’s Microbe & Gasoline, and, most recently, 2023’s The Book of Solutions, among other titles.
Gondry and Williams’ new musical movie does not yet have a release date from Universal Pictures.
