‘The Little Mermaid’ producers are facing a £150,000 lawsuit from a special effects artist over injury on set
Veteran special effects artist Christine Overs is suing the producers of Disney’s 2023 live-action remake The little mermaid for £150,000 ($191,000) for an on-set injury sustained during production.
During a recent hearing at the District Court in central London, Overs, now 74, claimed she modeled part of the lagoon scene on an elevated beach at Pinewood Studios when a makeshift access step gave way.
Overs says she then fell several meters to the concrete floor and broke her wrist. In one operation, five steel pins and a “fixator” were placed from wrist to elbow to stabilize her arm.
The lawyers for the “respected” artist told the court that the injuries she sustained caused “persistent wrist pain,” they say The Evening Standard.
They also claimed that she has a “significant disability” and is “less skilled with her hand.”
“She also suffers from persistent left ring and pinky hypersensitivity, poor grip strength and swelling at the edge of the wrist,” they said.
At an earlier hearing last week, Overs’ lawyers told the court that the injury had affected her ability to work.
Halle Bailey in The Little Mermaid
(Disney)
“She’s still working, but with less work,” said attorney Colm Nugent of Overs, who expected to continue working in “this very specialized job” well into her 80s.
Lawyers have accused the film’s creators of “failing to provide adequate access to the set, which resulted in the plaintiff falling off a makeshift Styrofoam step and injuring her wrist.”
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While Sandcastle Pictures, Disney’s hired production company, was hired to produce The little mermaidhas admitted full liability for Overs’ fall and is contesting the £150,000 compensation she is owed.
The court costs for a trial that is to take place at a later date were determined in the preliminary hearing last week.
The Independent has reached out to Disney and Sandcastle Pictures for comment.
hit theaters in May The little mermaid played Halle Bailey as a popular childhood princess. The film grossed over US$564 million (£441.4) at the worldwide box office.
It was mostly well-received by critics and currently has a 67 percent rating on the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes.
The IndependentHowever, Clarisse Loughrey of ‘s argued in her two-star review that “apart from a beaming Halle Bailey, this live-action remake stinks.”
“Good casting can’t mask the ugly visuals and lack of creative risk,” she wrote.