Disney’s live-action Little Mermaid is almost twice as long as the animated movie

The Little Mermaid live-action
(Image credit: Disney)

The runtime for Disney's The Little Mermaid has been revealed – and it looks like we'll be spending plenty of time under the sea.

Rob Marshall's live-action remake of The Little Mermaid clocks in at 2 hours and 15 minutes (per AMC's official listing). This is considerably longer than the 1989 animated original, which had a runtime of just 84 minutes, and makes it the longest live-action Disney remake to date.

Halle Bailey plays Ariel, with Melissa McCarthy as Ursula, Jonah Hauer-King as Prince Eric, Daveed Diggs as Sebastian,  Javier Bardem as King Triton, Jacob Tremblay as the voice of Ariel's pal Flounder, and Awkwafina as Scuttle. The cast also includes Art Malik, Noma Dumezweni, Lorena Andrea, Simone Ashley, Kajsa Mohammar, Nathalie Sorrell, and Karolina Conchet.

Rob Marshall (Mary Poppins Returns, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, and Into the Woods) directs from a screenplay by David Magee (Finding Neverland) and Jane Goldman (Kingsman: The Secret Service, Kingsman: The Golden Circle).

The new movie includes all the songs you know and love – plus four new songs written by Alan Menken and Hamilton's Lin-Manuel Miranda.

The animated film, directed by John Musker and Rob Clements, featured Jodi Benson as the voice of Ariel and became an instant Disney classic. An animated sequel titled The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea premiered in 2000, and followed the adventures of Ariel and Prince Eric's daughter Melody – voiced by legendary voice actress Tara Strong. A third film, Ariel's Beginning, was released direct-to-DVD in 2008.

The Little Mermaid arrives in cinemas on May 26, 2023. For more, check out our list of the most exciting upcoming movies in 2023 and beyond, or, skip straight to the good stuff with our list of movie release dates.

Lauren Milici
Senior Writer, Tv & Film

Lauren Milici is a Senior Entertainment Writer for GamesRadar+ currently based in the Midwest. She previously reported on breaking news for The Independent's Indy100 and created TV and film listicles for Ranker. Her work has been published in Fandom, Nerdist, Paste Magazine, Vulture, PopSugar, Fangoria, and more.