Disney’s live-action remake of “The Little Mermaid” is beginning its box office swim with $10.3 million in previews.
Starring singer and actor Halle Bailey as Ariel, the new movie is projected to open with $100 million this holiday weekend. With Memorial Day on Monday, its four-day total could land between $120 million and $125 million.
“The Little Mermaid” is expected to make a big splash as one of Disney’s more successful live-action remakes. In comparison, Disney’s most recent remake, the 2019 photorealistic and computer animated “The Lion King,” roared with a $191 million opening from $23 million in previews. It went on to make more than $1 billion globally. And just a couple months before “The Lion King” released, the live-action “Aladdin” opened with $117 million over the four-day Memorial Day weekend (from $7 million in previews) and also cracked $1 billion worldwide.
But Disney also has a few remake duds under its belt. The live-action “Mulan” opened at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic and settled for a Disney+ Premier Access release, and “Pinocchio” and “Peter Pan & Wendy” both landed exclusively on Disney+.
“The Little Mermaid,” with a budget of around $250 million, is fishing for a return to box office glory for Disney’s remakes, and it will easily take the No. 1 spot from last week’s champion, “Fast X.” The Universal action sequel, after its soft $67 million opening, will drift into second place with an estimated $27 million to $30 million in its second weekend.
The Disney cast includes Melissa McCarthy as the evil sea witch Ursula, Jonah Hauer-King as Prince Eric, Javier Bardem as King Triton, Daveed Diggs as the voice of Sebastian the crab, Jacob Tremblay as Flounder the fish and Awkwafina as Scuttle the seabird.