Halle Bailey's The Little Mermaid makes a splash at the box office with $163.5 million worldwide
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Disney's live-action remake of The Little Mermaid outswam the poor unfortunate competition at the Memorial Day weekend box office.
Rob Marshall's reimagining starring the Grammy-nominated singer and actress Halle Bailey opened at No. 1 with $95.5 million and a projected $117 million four-day domestic estimate, marking the fifth highest Memorial Day weekend opening of all time, per Comscore. (Top Gun: Maverick, which debuted with $160 million in 2022, leads the pack.) Worldwide, Little Mermaid opened with $163.5 million.
The remake features Jonah Hauer-King as Prince Eric, Melissa McCarthy as evil sea witch Ursula, Javier Bardem as King Triton, Daveed Diggs as Sebastian, Jacob Tremblay as Flounder, and Awkwafina as Scuttle.
"The character goes back to Hans Christian Andersen from another century, but at the same time, even in 1989, it felt in some ways like a very modern woman, someone who sees her life differently than anyone around her, and goes to find that dream," Marshall previously told EW, noting that his version pushes the modernity further.
Photo courtesy of Disney Halle Bailey as Ariel in 'The Little Mermaid'
"No. 1 is her passion — that fire is very important," he said. "She feels displaced and it's really an epic story of finding your true self. But also there needs to be a great deal of joy. It's a strange combination of innocence and wisdom, and a great deal of soul and heart. She's very modern in that way."
Though her casting sparked racist backlash online, Bailey said the "good outweighs all the bad" in EW's cover story for the movie, citing her joyful interactions with young Black fans who see themselves in her Ariel. "I just have to block out the noise," the star said. "I don't really see a lot of the comments. I choose to not read them, or delete Twitter, things like that, and just accept this moment for what it is, which is a big, beautiful blessing and opportunity for me."
Bailey's Ariel splashed past Fast X, which landed in second place during its second week in theaters with $107 million and $507 million worldwide. Another franchise, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, continued its box office reign at No. 3, having so far grossed $299 million and $731 million worldwide. It's followed by Super Mario Bros. Movie in fourth place ($558 million and $1.3 billion worldwide) and The Machine, which debuted at No. 5 with $4.9 million and a projected $5.9 million four-day domestic estimate.
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