‘The Little Mermaid’ First Reactions Praise Halle Bailey’s ‘Astonishing’ Ariel, Question if Remake Lives Up to Animated Original
Disney’s live-action remake of “The Little Mermaid” starring Halle Bailey. With the film’s Los Angeles premiere now concluding, first reactions to the musical have begun to hit social media. Ahead of its May 26 debut in theaters, Disney unveiled footage of “The Little Mermaid” at last month’s CinemaCon in Las Vegas, showing an early glimpse at Melissa McCarthy singing “Poor Unfortunate Souls” as Ursula. Variety also reported that director Rob Marshall and his husband, producer John DeLuca, held a private screening of the film, with a guest list including Emily Blunt, John Krasinski, Matt Damon and Ben Platt. The star-studded audience apparently applauded after each musical number and continued to rave during a post-screening reception.