Sofia Coppola Won't Direct The Live-Action LITTLE MERMAID After All

When it was announced that Sofia Coppola would be directing a live-action adaptation of Hans Christian Anderson's The Little Mermaid, it seemed like a perfect pairing of director with subject matter. Coppola has explored the feminine mind in great detail in her filmography already, and this was to be her biggest studio project to date.

But now Deadline reports that the writer/director has backed away from the film, citing creative differences as the reason for the split. The studio is reportedly pressing on with the project, operating from a script most recently worked on by Caroline Thompson (Edward Scissorhands).

Disney has lined up an aggressive slate of live-action adaptations of their classic animated films, and although The Little Mermaid is perhaps most associated with The Mouse House, this project hails from Universal, who is clearly attempting to cash in on the big box office prospects of revisiting these characters in live-action. Cinderella, Maleficent, Snow White and The Huntsman, and especially Alice in Wonderland have given studios plenty of reasons to want to try to capitalize on this trend, so we'll see who Universal taps to direct The Little Mermaid now that Coppola has headed back to dry land. In the meantime, we'll see her next project this Christmas when Netflix debuts A Very Murray Christmas.