Harry Styles Is The Little Mermaid's Prince Eric

By Andrew Pollard / July 16, 2019

Ever since Disney announced its plans to develop a live-action take on The Little Mermaid, one of the first questions on fans’ lips was just who would be the one to “kiss the girl”. And now, we have our answer: it’ll be Harry Styles.

Via The Hollywood Reporter, Styles has signed on to play Prince Eric in the House of Mouse’s new take on a beloved favourite. It might be easy to disregard Harry Styles as simply that fella from One Direction, but the 25-year-old certainly impressed in Christopher Nolan’s Academy Award-winning Dunkirk.

Since appearing in that 2017 movie, Harry has looked to fully branch out to the world of acting – even auditioning to play Elvis Presley in Baz Luhrmann’s upcoming biopic of The King. He would ultimately lose out to Austin Butler for that role, but Styles has now successfully nabbed one of the key roles in a Disney offering that so many are hugely looking forward to.

As for Prince Eric’s role in The Little Mermaid, he falls in love with Ariel after she saves him from drowning. So smitten is Ariel with her new beau, she eventually makes a deal with the nefarious Ursula to exchange her magical voice for a set of legs that will allow her to walk on land alongside the apple of her eye.

Harry Styles joins fellow singer-turned-actor Halle Bailey in The Little Mermaid, with the Chloe x Halle star having recently landed the part of Ariel. Styles and Bailey may be the only two confirmed names for the picture at this stage, but Melissa McCarthy, Jacob Tremblay and Awkwafina are in talks to join the movie.

This live-action spin on The Little Mermaid will follow in the footsteps of the likes of The Jungle Book, Dumbo, Aladdin, and The Lion King in being given a fresh lick of paint for a new generation of moviegoers.

To be directed by Mary Poppins Returns’ Rob Marshall, The Little Mermaid is hoping to start production early next year.