©Walt Disney Co./Courtesy Everett Collection
Disney’s live-action “The Little Mermaid” is making a splash at the domestic box office this weekend, with an opening day total of $38 million.
Opening in 4,320 theaters, Fantasy is expected to gross between $120 million and $130 million over the four-day Memorial Day weekend.
The musical remake, which stars Halle Bailey as the fairy princess Ariel, took in $10.3 million in Thursday’s previews, ranking it as the seventh-highest ever for a movie rated G or PG. That puts the film on track to top $100 million for the holiday weekend. With a production budget of $250 million, “The Little Mermaid” will need to generate box office success to earn a reasonable return.
“Fast X,” the tenth installment in the “Fast and Furious” franchise, debuted last weekend to $67 million stateside. This weekend, the four-day holiday weekend is estimated to bring in around $28 million, clearly second only to “The Little Mermaid.”
“Fast X” is expected to cross $500 million at the global box office this weekend, making it the third-highest grosser of the year worldwide.
“The Little Mermaid” is directed by Rob Marshall and stars Melissa McCarthy as Ursula, Jonah Hauer-King as Prince Eric, Javier Bardem as King Triton, David Dix as Sebastian the Crab, Jacob Tremblay as Flounder the Fish, and Skylvafina as Awkwafina. Seabird. It received mixed reviews and currently holds a 66% on Rotten Tomatoes. VarietyHowever, Peter Debruge stated in his review that “Halle Bailey is the reason why any audience can justify Disney’s reimagining of this classic.”
