The article contains some spoilers from the live-action The Little Mermaid. The Little Mermaid live-action remake already has stars Melissa McCarthy and Javier Bardem - who play Ursula and King Triton, respectively - pushing a spinoff film for their characters. The Little Mermaid is the latest in a long line of recent Disney live-action remakes, and the early reviews are mostly positive, remarking on Halle Bailey and McCarthy's performances as standouts. With the film already making numerous changes from the animated movie, such as the songs, another modification includes King Triton and Ursula's relationship as they are siblings in the remake.
In a recent conversation with The Hollywood Reporter, McCarthy and Bardem talked about what it was like working together on the live-action The Little Mermaid set. They both gushed over each other's talents, which led to Bardem saying that he needed a spinoff film, so their characters could spend more time together. In particular, he wanted one scene where King Triton has dinner with Ursula. Check out the full quotes below:
Bardem: My turn! Working with Melissa is a joy and a gift. It’s sad that we only had one day.
McCarthy: I know.
Bardem: But I had a moment where [Melissa] was delivering some pretty heavy lines and they made my spine [shiver]. I felt the energy. So I didn’t see her Ursula until that moment, but I knew then that she had created a unique and iconic Ursula in this movie. She’s brought everything that you can ask for and imagine. So I need an Ursula spinoff, and since our characters are siblings, I want to have one scene with her while having dinner.
McCarthy: Let’s go for six or seven if we’re throwing it out there. C’mon!
What Could An Ursula Spinoff Be About?
It remains to be seen how the live-action The Little Mermaid remake fares financially. If The Little Mermaid has the type of box office success like The Lion King and Beauty and the Beast remakes, a spinoff is likely. Currently, the live-action remake is projected to make roughly around $100 million on its opening weekend in the United States.
Surprisingly, an Ursula spinoff idea has never gotten more support previously, considering how iconic Pat Carroll's portrayal of the Sea Witch was in the 1989 animated film. The fact that Ursula dies at the end of the story does limit the ideas for a spinoff to prequels, but the live-action film adding in the caveat that Ursula is King Triton's estranged sister opens up a new trove of possibilities that filmmakers could dig through for a McCarthy-led spinoff. While the 1989 animated movie didn't hint at their sibling dynamic, The Little Mermaid's novelization and stage musical did reveal this relationship.
The most probable option would be to focus on the time when Ursula became estranged from Triton and the rest of the Atlantican royal family. A possible spinoff may provide the origin story of how Ursula transforms from a character like Ariel and her sisters to the disgruntled Sea Witch she becomes in The Little Mermaid. Portraying Ursula as a denizen of Atlantica rather than an outcast would allow filmmakers to grant Bardem's request for a dinner table scene between the siblings and McCarthy's wish for "six or seven" scenes featuring the pair.
Source: THR
