The Little Mermaid director on whether there'll be any live-action sequels

The Little Mermaid will see Disney's 1989 animated classic reinvented for a new generation as it gets the live-action treatment, with Rob Marshall in the director's chair and Halle Bailey starring as Ariel. 

Cast your mind back a few decades, though, and you may remember that the original movie also got both a sequel and a prequel: 2000's The Little Mermaid 2: Return to the Sea and 2008's The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning. But will the live-action remake follow suit in taking us further into the Mermaid-verse? 

Speaking to Total Film magazine in the latest issue, which features Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny on the cover, Marshall tells us: "I know there have been the prequels and sequels to the animated film – like, the straight-to-video kind of things, you know? It’s a classic story that has a lot of characters and a lot of interesting stories. I do think it’s right for certain things. But you have to see how a movie plays, and how it does… I think there’s always opportunity to find stories within stories. That’s always a wonderful thing."

He adds: "I’m glad we were able to take this one to live-action, because it really is a very powerful tale, and very emotional."

You can see an exclusive image from the movie above too from the new issue of Total Film. This features Bailey's Ariel and Jonah Hauer-King as her character's love interest Prince Eric.

In cinemas on May 26, the movie also stars Melissa McCarthy as the evil sea witch Ursula and Javier Bardem as her father King Triton. 

• Preorder the Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny issue of Total Film now

This is just a snippet of our interview with the team behind The Little Mermaid in the new issue of Total Film magazine when it hits shelves (and digital newsstands) this Thursday, April 27. Check out the covers below:

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