The Little Mermaid set photos show Halle Bailey in costume as Ariel

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This is our first glimpse at Halle Bailey's Ariel

The Little Mermaid
(Image credit: Disney)

New set photos from The Little Mermaid live-action remake give us our first proper glimpse of Halle Bailey in costume as Ariel.

The set photos show Bailey in a sack-like costume, reminiscent of a scene in Disney's original 1989 animated movie where Ariel stumbles to shore as a newly transformed human and fashions a makeshift dress out of some burlap material she finds on the beach. It's also apparent from the photos that Bailey isn't sporting cartoon Ariel's iconic bright red hair.

The story, loosely based on Hans Christian Andersen's fairytale of the same name, follows a young mermaid who makes a deal with a sea witch to become human, in exchange for her voice. The live-action remake is helmed by Into the Woods and Mary Poppins Returns director Rob Marshall.

Alongside Bailey, the movie stars Jonah Hauer-King as Prince Eric, Javier Bardem as Ariel's father King Triton, and Melissa McCarthy as sea witch Ursula. It will also feature the voices of Daveed Diggs as Sebastian the crab, Jacob Tremblay as Flounder the fish, and Awkwafina as Scuttle the diving bird.

Bailey is best known for her musical endeavors with her sister under the stage name Chloe x Halle. The duo's latest album, Ungodly Hour, received critical acclaim and was nominated for a Grammy. As well as acting, Bailey will also record The Little Mermaid's soundtrack. The movie is her first major big-screen role, but both Bailey sisters also have roles in the ABC sitcom Grown-ish, a spin-off of the series Black-ish. 

The Little Mermaid is just one of several live-action remakes that Disney has in the works at the moment – it was recently announced that Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs would also be getting the real-life treatment, with West Side Story star Rachel Zegler playing the titular role. And while they may not be Disney princesses, beloved animated movies Peter Pan and Pinocchio are both getting live-action remakes in the next couple of years, too. 

While we wait for The Little Mermaid to hit the big screen, check out our list of the best movies on Disney Plus that you can watch right now.

Emily Garbutt
Emily Garbutt
Entertainment Writer

I’m an Entertainment Writer here at GamesRadar+, covering everything film and TV-related across the Total Film and SFX sections. I help bring you all the latest news and also the occasional feature too. I’ve previously written for publications like HuffPost and i-D after getting my NCTJ Diploma in Multimedia Journalism.