The Little Mermaid was Disney’s big hope for this year. Beyond the Marvel releases, which have been quite mixed as we’ve seen —“Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” has been a hit while “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” didn’t fare well—, the Mickey Mouse company was convinced that the live-action remake of its film could boost its revenues.
Now, with the movie already released and the reviews out, the first box office results have arrived. But did it perform as well as Disney had hoped? Or, as the critics suggested, has it been a major failure? Let’s analyze the box office data for The Little Mermaid.
A success on the inside… and a failure on the outside
The first news about The Little Mermaid‘s box office performance is very, very positive: its debut has been incredible in the United States. Just on Friday, the day of its release, the film grossed $38 million, reaching $95.5 million over the weekend, and $117.5 million over the four-day Memorial Day weekend.
These numbers even exceed Disney’s expectations, as they were hoping to collect around $104 million during the first weekend. Furthermore, it surpasses the $86.1 million earned by Aladdin on its opening weekend, which was the main film used as a reference since it also premiered on Memorial Day.
It stands as the fifth-highest Memorial Day box office result in history, even surpassing Fast & Furious 6, which earned $117 million in 2013. However, it falls slightly behind Beauty and the Beast, which achieved a remarkable $170 million on the same date.
Indeed, overall it has been a significant debut. And while it may not be Disney‘s highest-grossing remake, its numbers are still noteworthy. However, not everything is as rosy as it seems. The rest of the world has shown disappointing results for The Little Mermaid, falling far short of the expected figures.
The international box office opening amounted to $68.3 million, a much lower number than anticipated. Additionally, its debut in China has been disastrous, which was one of the markets where they expected a strong impact. The markets where the film performed best include Mexico ($8.5 million), the United Kingdom ($6.3 million), and Italy ($4.7 million). However, it is clear that The Little Mermaid has fallen short of being the global phenomenon they had hoped for.
Absolutely, considering the initial figures, The Little Mermaid will likely surpass its investment by a considerable margin, so it cannot be considered a failure by any means. However, it also doesn’t seem to be exceeding Disney’s expectations, so it may not turn out to be the golden goose they were hoping for.
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