Disney's Live-Action version of 'The Little Mermaid' makes a $118.6 Million domestic debut

May 30, 2023 in "Walt Disney Studios"

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The Little Mermaid poster

Posted: Tuesday May 30, 2023 4:22pm ET by WDWMAGIC Staff

Disney's live-action take on "The Little Mermaid," reimagined by filmmaker Rob Marshall, made a big splash in its debut weekend at the box office.

The Little Mermaid poster

The film, which is a reworking of the original Academy Award-winning animated musical classic, pulled in a whopping $118.6 million domestically, securing it the title of the fifth biggest Memorial Day weekend opener ever.

Audiences rewarded the remake with a solid "A" CinemaScore and a 95 percent verified moviegoer rating on Rotten Tomatoes. On the international front, The Little Mermaid raked in an extra $79 million in its first weekend.

The film brings together a star-studded cast with Halle Bailey as Ariel, Jonah Hauer-King embodying Prince Eric, and a slew of talented voices including Daveed Diggs as Sebastian, Awkwafina as Scuttle, and Jacob Tremblay as Flounder. Additional roles include Noma Dumezweni as Queen Selina, Art Malik as Sir Grimsby, Javier Bardem as King Triton, and Melissa McCarthy as Ursula.

The Little Mermaid poster

Rob Marshall directs the movie, co-produced by him alongside Marc Platt, Lin-Manuel Miranda, John DeLuca, with Jeffrey Silver in the role of an executive producer. The movie features music from Disney Legend Alan Menken and lyrics by fellow Disney Legend Howard Ashman - the dynamic duo that bagged two Oscars for the music in the original 1989 film - along with fresh lyrics penned by Miranda.

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MisterPenguinOct 10, 2023

TP2000Sep 20, 2023

But what about Merchandise and DVD sales? That's got to count for something, right?

Vegas Disney FanSep 20, 2023

With so much content now I suspect first impressions are everything, I start a ton of movies and shows that I don’t continue if the first 10-15 minutes don’t hook me. In the theater, after driving across town and paying $20 for a ticket and snacks, they’ve got a fairly captive audience, at home they’ve probably got about 10 minutes before most people will turn it off and move on to the next option, with thousand of options there’s no reason to continue on if something bores you at the beginning. This also makes the way they calculate viewings interesting also, it’s possible 26 million people started and didn’t finish but all those minutes added up to millions of views, even if many never finished the movie.

EPCOT-O.G.Sep 20, 2023

I’m fascinated by this. TLM actually did a bit better at the box office than Elemental. Yet Elemental has overwhelmed TLM in terms of purported viewership. It feels like the animated films generally have more rewatchability on those services than the live action remakes.

doctornickSep 20, 2023

I watched but I did enjoy Elemental a good bit more and we’ve rewatched it. I thought TLM was probably in the top half of live action remakes actually but in general I don’t really like those movies that much so it’s not saying much. Jungle Book still far and away the best of the bunch

Vegas Disney FanSep 20, 2023

Elemental had 26 million views in its first week, TLM had 16 million… looks like about 40% of active D+ viewers don’t want to watch it, even for “free”. Rewatchability (is that a word?) likely skews this though as I’ve watched Elemental twice already and have still only watched the first 15 or so minutes of TLM. The first TLM scenes are very slow which probably isn’t helping its D+ viewership. Elemental grabs you from the start so it encourages continuing.

MoonRakerSCMSep 15, 2023

All my disney friend peeps now have full access to Little Mermaid on a service they already pay for. None will watch it with me.

LSLSSep 15, 2023

Honestly this kind of tells me Disney has REALLY screwed up their movie sector. Basically people have been trained that if they only have a passing interest in seeing a movie, there's no need to go to the theater when they can watch it for free in a few months. I get they are trying to change it, but I think this is highlighting the damage they've done.

TP2000Sep 14, 2023

This remake of Little Mermaid just lost $106 Million at the box office for Disney. I'm sure there are Sharp Pencil Boys and several executives now asking that same financial question you have.

PhroobarSep 14, 2023

Most likely so. I just know I kept wanting to fast forward but didn't in fear of missing something new.

Chi84Sep 14, 2023

I had nowhere to go so the length didn’t bother me lol. Also, I prefer live-action retellings to the originals for the very reason that relationships can be better established. So we’re probably coming from two very different places where the movie is concerned.

PhroobarSep 14, 2023

I really didn't like any of the three new songs. They felt like time fillers, however Scuttlebutt was jarring to me.

Chi84Sep 14, 2023

Obviously, I enjoyed it much more than you did. Different things for different people! I thought the Scuttlebutt song was great.

PhroobarSep 14, 2023

I watched it on D+. The acting and singing were fine except for the Scuttlebutt song. The songs felt more like karaoke at times. The animal animation was dreadful. The biggest problem is the length. There isn't much happening to justify the length. There were large patches where nothing advanced the plot. It is a C+.