Disney has found its Ariel for the upcoming live-action The Little Mermaid

Halle Bailey and Chloe Bailey (L-R) - Halle has been cast as Ariel in the upcoming live-action The Little Mermaid (Photo by Amy Sussman/Getty Images)

Every Upcoming Disney Live-Action Remake 15 IMAGES

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Disney announced today via a press release that actress and musical artist Halle Bailey, one half of Chloe x Halle, has been cast as Ariel, with production expected to begin on the live-action remake in early 2020.The film will be directed by Rob Marshall, who most recently directed Mary Poppins Returns for Disney. Original songs from the Disney animated classic written by Alan Menken and Howard Ashman will be reprised in the new film, with additional songs being composed by Menken, with Hamilton's Lin-Manuel Miranda writing lyrics for the new songs."After an extensive search, it was abundantly clear that Halle possesses that rare combination of spirit, heart, youth, innocence, and substance — plus a glorious singing voice — all intrinsic qualities necessary to play this iconic role," Marshall said in a statement provided to IGN.More casting announcements for The Little Mermaid are expected from Disney in the coming weeks — and with Disney's D23 Expo set for late August, we may get to hear more about the film then.Recently, reports suggested Melissa McCarthy is in talks to play Ursula for the live-action remake, however Disney did not confirm that casting at this time.This remake of The Little Mermaid is a long time coming, as we've heard back as far as 2016 that Disney had been considering a live-action Little Mermaid . However, Universal and Working Title are also developing a live-action adaptation of The Little Mermaid, with Kick-Ass' Chloe Mortez starring as Ariel Find out what we thought of Disney's most recent live-action remake in IGN's Aladdin review , while we just got a set of new character and actor photos for the next remake, The Lion King

Jonathon Dornbush is IGN's Senior News Editor. Talk to him on Twitter @jmdornbush