Will there be a sequel to The Little Mermaid live-action remake?

Disney's The Little Mermaid live-action remake wasn't the best adaptation the studio has put out, but it was a serviceable nod to the beloved animated movie, and the cast -- led by Halle Bailey as Ariel and Melissa McCarthy as Ursula -- absolutely shined in their roles.

Despite some of the negative attention and social media backlash Disney received for casting Bailey in the lead role, The Little Mermaid proved resilient and grossed a worldwide total of $555.9 million. Although it's not the billion-dollar box office gross that used to be a regular occurrence for Disney, the film is estimated to have been profitable for the company.

Given the fairly positive reception and decent box office numbers, some are wondering if Disney will make a sequel to The Little Mermaid. Here's what we know so far.

Will there be a sequel to The Little Mermaid live-action remake?

As of this writing, Disney has not officially announced any plans for a sequel to the 2023 live-action The Little Mermaid movie. That's not to say one couldn't happen in the future, but there are no concrete plans for one right now.

In order to do so, Disney would first have to think of an important reason to do so. The ending of the first movie was pretty straightforward and definite. There was also no post-credits scene alluding to a continued adventure for Ariel.

To date, Disney also hasn't made many sequels to its live-action remakes. Alice in Wonderland and Maleficent are two rare examples of Disney live-action sequels, and the company does have plans for a sequel to 2019's "live-action" adaptation of The Lion King. Although it's worth noting that both Alice in Wonderland and The Lion King both topped $1 billion at the box office, while Maleficient earned around $750 million.

Now Disney did release a sequel to the 1989 animated movie. The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea was a direct-to-video animated musical released in 2000. Set 12 years after the first movie, the story followed on Ariel and Eric's daughter Melody, a human who longs to live in the ocean. Although it bombed with critics, it is considered to be one of the most successful direct-to-video releases of all-time.

Still, if Disney does move forward with a sequel to The Little Mermaid in live-action form, they probably won't follow the animated sequel's plot.