The Little Mermaid Interview: Director Rob Marshall and Producer John DeLuca

Of all the Disney live-action remakes, Rob Marshall’s The Little Mermaid, starring Halle Bailey as Ariel, certainly presented unique challenges, considering half the film takes place under the sea. Ahead of the highly-anticipated May 26 premiere, nearly five years in the making, Collider’s Steve Weintraub sat down with Marshall and producer John DeLuca to dive into some of the behind-the-scenes magic. During their interview, which you can watch or read below, the Disney duo delight in the entire project, from the conception where they pulled inspiration from the original 1989 film and Hans Christian Andersen’s 200-year-old fairytale, to their “methodology meetings.” Marshall digs into the technical aspects of achieving underwater scenes and says they employed “every kind of apparatus you can possibly imagine,” as well as the expertise of the Alvin Ailey Foundation for the Oscar-winning “Under the Sea” number. As far as the story elements, which DeLuca says was “paramount,” Marshall also discusses what