Ever in lockstep with her directing rival Michael Bay, Sofia Coppola is now in a mad race to the heart of the ocean by entering negotiations to direct The Little Mermaid for Universal. A dark, live-action retelling of Hans Christian Andersen’s classic fairy tale has been sought ever since “dark, live-action retellings of classic fairy tales” became its own inescapable genre, with directors like Joe Wright and Country Strong’s Shana Feste developing their own takes in recent years. Coppola would be assuming control of Wright’s project, which will find Edward Scissorhands’ Caroline Thompson rewriting a draft that’s already passed through Shame’s Abi Morgan and Fifty Shades Of Grey’s Kelli Marcel, and presumably excising all of their disturbing, blowhole-ravaging sex scenes. Anyway, though seemingly an unusual choice for Coppola, remember that—like so many of her movies—The Little Mermaid is really just another tale of a bored rich girl overcome by ennui. It’s just that this bored rich girl is also half-fish, which makes her twice as misunderstood.
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