Every other fairy tale has a movie in the works, and now it’s time for The Little Mermaid. Country Strong director Shana Feste has signed on to write and direct an adaptation of Carolyn Turgeon’s novel Mermaid: A Twist on the Classic Tale, for Sony, according to Variety.
The book is about a princess who seeks out to marry the prince of her rival kingdom, to try and save her own ravaged kingdom. However, the princess discovers that a beautiful mermaid has also fallen for the prince, risking her life to be with him. However, the story is said to be a darker version of The Little Mermaid (although that said Hans Christian Anderson’s version was a lot darker than what Disney did with it).
Actor Tobey Maguire will produce the film through his Material Pictures banner, along with Jenno Topping. Here’s the official description of the novel below, which was published in March, ‘When Lenia, a young mermaid princess, rescues a man from a shipwreck and carries him to shore, her selfless act is witnessed by Princess Margrethe, who is staying in a convent nearby for protection from the war her father is fighting against another kingdom. The shipwrecked young man’s name is Christopher, and in the weeks that he’s nursed back to health at the convent, he and Margrethe fall in love-but it’s not until after he leaves that Margrethe discovers he’s the prince from the kingdom her family is at war with.
‘Meanwhile, in the sea Lenia is suffering; she fell in love with Christopher in the moments she carried him to shore, so she makes a deal with the sea witch: in exchange for her voice and tongue she receives a potion that changes her into human form. Margrethe comes up with a plan of her own: she’ll be offered in marriage to Christopher, thus uniting the kingdoms and putting an end to the years of conflict between the two lands. But when Margrethe arrives, ready to win and wed her prince, she finds him enraptured with a beautiful woman who looks very familiar. Margrethe is sure she’s seen her before.’