Joe Wright to Direct Live Action Little Mermaid Movie

Working Title have announced that they’re working up the first English language adaptation of The Little Mermaid with screenwriter Abi Morgan and director Joe Wright.
Wright is currently in post production on teen girl assassin movie Hanna, for which Saiorse Ronan is playing the lead role. Having previously also appeared in Wright’s Atonement, you might assume Ronan would be the frontrunner for the Mermaid lead, but I can’t quite see it myself. And not just because she doesn’t look anything like Disney’s Ariel – she just looks more elf than mermaid to me.
The story’s original source is a short story by Hans Christan Anderson, but Screen Daily have reported this film is specifically inspired by a puppet theatre production that was staged by Islington’s Little Angel Theatre Company. The picture at the top of this post shows their handsome looking puppets.
Before I go, here’s a wild idea: even if the cast of the film was entirely puppets, it would still be live action. I don’t think they’re actually going that way, though.