Family audiences turned out in force and pushed Disney’s “The Little Mermaid” to the top of the box office over Memorial Day weekend. The film, a live-action remake of the 1988 animated favorite, grossed $117.5 million over its four-day weekend. It ranks as the fifth-biggest Memorial Day debut — last year’s “Top Gun: Maverick” set a new record for the holiday with a $160.5 million debut. At one point over the weekend, “The Little Mermaid” looked set to open even north of $120 million, but ticket sales tipped slightly lower.
For Disney, the film’s popularity is a testament to its strategy of digging deep into its coffers and relaunching animated titles as live-action films, as it has done so successfully with the likes of “Aladdin,” “Beauty and the Beast” and “The Lion.” King” waiting on the horizon: Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson, the Oscar-winning director of “Summer of Soul,” is helping to remake “The Aristocats” for Disney.
If it wants to turn a profit, “The Little Mermaid,” which has a production budget of $250 million, will have to draw crowds over the next few weeks. That may prove to be a challenge internationally, as the animated original isn’t as popular in many countries as it is in the U.S. So far, the film has grossed $68.1 million in over 51 markets, including major territories like France, the United Kingdom, and more. , Mexico, Australia, Brazil and South Korea.
“The Little Mermaid” Halle Bailin stars as RL, the daughter of King Triton (Javier Bardem), ruler of an ocean kingdom who is in love with an extraterrestrial prince (Jonah Hower-King). Her desire to be with him prompts her to make a deal with Ursula (Melissa McCarthy) to take human form and give up her seductive voice. Rob Marshall, the filmmaker behind hits like “Chicago” and “Into the Woods,” directs this music-heavy tale that features songs like “Part of Your World” and “Under the Sea.” Analysts believe the film is helped by its PG rating and multi-generational appeal – people who saw the original as children are taking their children to the film three and a half decades later.
“It’s the perfect family movie,” said Paul Dergarabedian, chief analyst at ComCore. “Ariel’s character resonates as strongly today, if not more, than it did when the original animated film opened.”
Two other summer releases used the holiday to cover their grosses. Universal’s “Fast X” grossed $28.7 million over the long weekend. The sequel to the long-running Vehicle franchise struggled at the domestic box office, grossing $113.6 million after two weeks. It grossed nearly $400 million, north of $500 million, making it the third highest-grossing film of 2023. The franchise has crossed the $7 billion mark at the international box office. The series’ fifth highest-grossing film of all time.
Disney and Marvel’s “Galaxy Vol. 3” took third place with $26.1 million for the four-day holiday. That brings the total to $305.6 million for the superhero sequel, which is meant to serve as a farewell to the galaxy troupe.
Rounding out the top five films were Universal’s “The Super Mario Bros. Movie,” which earned $8.3 million, and Sony and Legendary’s action-comedy “The Machine,” which earned $6 million over its four-day run. . “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” is currently the most popular movie of the year, grossing more than $1.2 billion at the worldwide box office.
“The Machine” was part of a trilogy of new releases. Lionsgate’s “About My Father,” starring Sebastian Maniscalco, earned a paltry $5.4 million over the four-day weekend, while Gerard Butler’s latest action-thriller “Kandahar” stumbled with a $3 million bow (Open Road and Briarcliff backed that film). It’s a reminder of how big a challenge it is to get people to come to the cinema for something that isn’t a remake, reboot or sequel.
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