âThe Little Mermaidâ made moviegoers want to be under the sea on Memorial Day weekend.
Disneyâs live-action remake of its 1989 animated classic easily outswam the competition, bringing in $95.5 million on 4,320 screens in North America, according to studio estimates Sunday.
And Disney estimates the film starring Halle Bailey as the titular mermaid Ariel and Melissa McCarthy as her sea witch nemesis Ursula will reach $117.5 million by the time the holiday is over. It ranks as the fifth biggest Memorial Day weekend opening ever.
It displaces âFast Xâ in the top spot. The 10th installment in the âFast and Furiousâ franchise starring Vin Diesel has lagged behind more recent releases in the series, bringing in $23 million domestically for a two-week total of $108 million for Universal Pictures.
In its fourth weekend, Disney and Marvelâs âGuardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3â made an estimated $20 million in North America to take third place. Itâs now made $299 million domestically.
The performance of âThe Little Mermaidâ represents something of a bounce-back for Disneyâs animated-to-live-action remakes, and makes it likely they will keep coming indefinitely. Poor reception and the pandemic had some recent reboots either performing poorly or skipping theatrical releases for Disney +, including âDumbo,â âMulanâ and âPinocchio.â
âIt works as long as the movies deliver,â said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for Comscore. âItâs great for Disney to be able to go to their archive by reviving these titles that started off as huge hits in the animated realm.â
The opening puts it in the top tier of Disneyâs remakes, with a similar performance to 2019âČs âAladdin,â though it was well short of 2017âČs âBeauty and the Beast,â which opened to more than $170 million, and 2019âČs âThe Lion King,â which brought in more than $190 million in its first weekend.
Audiences thought it delivered. The film had an A CinemaScore, and according to exit polling had more ticket buyers between ages 25 and 34 than children, suggesting nostalgic adults were essential.
âThe multi-generational component of this cannot be overstated,â Dergarabedian said.
Critics were more lukewarm. The movie is currently at 67% on Rotten Tomatoes. In her review, Lindsey Bahr of The Associated Press called it âa somewhat drab undertaking with sparks of bioluminescenceâ that like too many of the Disney remakes âprioritized nostalgia and familiarity over compelling visual storytelling.â
She said Bailey, half of the sister R&B duo Chloe x Halle, still shone with a âlovely presenceâ and âsuperb voice.â
Directed by Rob Marshall with a reported budget of $250 million before marketing, âThe Little Mermaidâ tells the story of a yearning, wayward daughter who cuts a devilâs deal to swap her fins for a pair of legs. It features the songs from Alan Menken and Howard Ashman, including âPart of Your Worldâ and âUnder the Sea,â that helped the original film spark a Disney animation renaissance in the 1990s.
Fourth place went to Universalâs âThe Super Mario Bros. Movie,â which keeps reaching new levels in its eighth weekend. Now available to rent on VOD, it still earned $6.3 million in theaters. Its cumulative total of $559 million makes Mario and Luigi the yearâs biggest earners so far.
Comics couldnât stand up to Ariel as the weekâs other new releases sank.
âThe Machine,â an action comedy starring stand-up comedian Bert Kreischer, finished fifth with $4.9 million domestically. And âAbout My Father,â the broad comedy starring stand-up Sebastian Maniscalco and Robert De Niro, was sixth with $4.3 million.
Itâs not clear whether âThe Little Mermaidâ will have legs â or fins â going forward. Next week brings the release of animated âSpider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse,â with âTransformers: Rise of the Beastsâ arriving the following week.