Disney considering a live-action The Little Mermaid remake, which weirdly hasn't been done yet

No, seriously, have they only thought of this now?

You can't be blamed if you believed The Little Mermaid live-action remake was already in the works; you know, alongside the exhaustive likes of Dumbo, Maleficent 2, Cruella, or the new Mary Poppins.

Yet, surprisingly, it wasn't. Until now; as Deadline reports Disney is in the early stages of developing a live-action take on the 1989 animated classic, though this may be more of a return to Hans Christian Anderson's original fairy tale.

As easy as it may be to moan, Disney has every reason to expand its slate of live-action remakes; The Jungle Book enjoyed bountiful success at the global box office, while the first teaser for Beauty and the Beast managed to break The Force Awakens' record as the most viewed teaser in its first 24 hours of release.

However, like The Jungle Book, Disney won't be alone if it pushes ahead with its The Little Mermaid film; as Universal has long been developing a project based on the classic story, with Sofia Coppola once attached to direct.

The film will now be helmed by up-and-comer Rebecca Thomas, starring Chloe Grace Moretz; with Warner Bros. behind a similarly competing The Jungle Book movie, directed by Andy Serkis and set to hit screens in 2018.

If greenlit, the film would already join the substantial roster of live-action projects officially announced by Disney, including Ava DuVernay's A Wrinkle in Time.