Disney's Live-Action "The Little Mermaid" Makes #1 during Memorial Day Weekend

[JamesG]

The Little Mermaid Dominates Memorial Day Box Office with $118 Million Debut
by Brent Lang
May 28, 2023


Thirty-five years after the animated story of Ariel, a flame-haired siren of the sea who falls for a prince, charmed audiences, a live-action remake of The Little Mermaid dominated the Memorial Day weekend box office.

The Disney release is on track to debut to a massive $118 million over the four-day holiday, with $96 million of that coming over the three-day frame. It ranks as the fifth highest Memorial Day opening in history.



The Little Mermaid has a $250 million production budget, so it will need to keep attracting crowds around the globe in order to break even. Internationally, the film grossed $68.3 million from 51 material markets.

In the U.S. 68% of the audience was female, while 25% of ticket buyers ranged in age between 25 to 34. Kids accounted for 22% of the opening weekend crowds.







Elsewhere in the multiplexes, Fast X, the tenth mainline installment in The Fast and Furious franchise, continued to show signs of running on fumes, at least in the U.S.

It’s estimated to bring in about $23 million in its second weekend and $28.7 million over the four-day holiday after launching to a soft $67 million. Stateside, the film has generated a disappointing $113.6 million.



But Dom and his road crew are getting a much warmer reception overseas, with Fast X expected to cross the $500 million mark at the global box office this weekend, making it the third-highest grosser of the year.

It needs to keep making money and lots of it. The latest chapter cost a knee-weakening $340 million to produce.







Disney’s Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3 took third place with $20 million and an estimated $25.3 million for the four-day holiday, pushing its domestic total to a sizable $300 million.




Universal and Illumination’s The Super Mario Bros. Movie came in fourth with $6.3 million over the weekend and an estimated $8.3 million during the holiday period.

Domestically, the movie has made a gargantuan $560.9 million after eight weeks in theaters. A sequel to the video game adaptation can’t come soon enough for theater owners.




Arthouse favorite You Hurt My Feelings, an A24 release that reunites the Enough Said team of director Nicole Holofcener and Julia Louis-Dreyfuss, will open to $1.4 million over the weekend and $1.8 million through the holiday.







Not every studio had reasons to celebrate as a trio of new releases bombed.

The Machine, an action comedy from Sony and Legendary starring stand-up Bert Kreischer, collapsed with $4.9 million over the weekend and $5.8 million over the four-day holiday.

About My Father, based on the life story of another popular comic, Sebastian Maniscalco, also failed to draw much interest. The Lionsgate release eked out $4.3 million over the weekend and $5.3 million during the four-day holiday.

The Open Road and Briarcliff release of Gerard Butler’s latest action opus Kandahar sputtered with a measly $2.4 million over the weekend and $3 million during the four-day period.

https://variety.com/2023/film/news/l...ey-1235627238/







May 26-29, 2023: Weekend Studio Estimates

1. The Little Mermaid $117,500,000
2. Fast X $28,690,000 / $113,625,340
3. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 $25,300,000 / $304,775,817
4. The Super Mario Bros. Movie $8,330,000 / $560,941,975
5. The Machine $8,864,978
6. About My Father $8,864,978
7. Kandahar $3,000,000
8. You Hurt My Feelings $1,766,201
9. Book Club: Next Chapter $1,200,000 / $16,411,970
10. John Wick: Chapter 4 $639,000 / $186,539,016