‘The Little Mermaid’ Sprinting to $125M-Plus Memorial Day Debut
The Little Mermaid: Memorial Day debut. After grossing $38 million on Friday, The Little Mermaid is dominating the Memorial Day weekend box office.
The live-action adaptation of the classic animated movie from Disney is surging to a better-than-anticipated $125 million+ opening, ranking it as the fourth-biggest Christmas opening of all time, unadjusted for inflation. Some estimates even put the movie’s gross at above $130 million, but Disney is being conservative and estimating a $120 million to $130 million range.
The Little Mermaid is the first 2023 summer blockbuster to specifically target females, who made up 68 percent of Friday ticket buyers and received a positive Cinema Score.
The acclaimed animated picture from Disney is being recreated in live-action under Rob Marshall’s direction. Halle Bailey plays Ariel in the new version of The Little Mermaid. Ariel is a brave young mermaid who strikes a perilous bargain with the sea witch Ursula (Melissa McCarthy) to experience life on dry land and get to know the handsome Prince Eric (Jonah Hauer-King).
The bond, however, greatly imperils her father’s aquatic realm. Daveed Diggs, Awkwafina, Javier Bardem, Jacob Tremblay, Noma Dumezweni, and Art Malik are also featured in the cast.
Critics have praised Bailey’s portrayal of Ariel despite racial reaction on social media over the use of a Black actress in the lead role. Disney executives are waiting to see how the movie does in a few international markets but do not anticipate these protests to negatively impact the movie in North America. The Little Mermaid was projected to bring in $120 million over the course of the four-day holiday.
The Little Mermaid will outperform the openings for a few other Disney remakes if it lives up to projections for its Memorial Day weekend debut. These include Cinderella (2015), which only made $67.8 million, and Aladdin (2019), which made $116.8 million in its debut.
Regardless, Memorial Day weekend at The Little Mermaid is anticipated to be a huge success. Given that the original 1989 movie launched Disney’s second golden age, this is hardly surprising. Now playing in theatres is The Little Mermaid.
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