Disney’s live-action rendition of the much-loved classic, The Little Mermaid, made its grand entry into theaters worldwide last Friday. Amid mixed reviews from critics, casting controversies, and high financial projections, the film’s performance seems to have taken a plunge, especially in Asia and parts of Europe. While the movie managed to do relatively well in America, it still fell short of expectations.
The American Box Office: Not Quite a Fairy Tale
In the US, the highly anticipated flick was projected to reel in over $100 million on its opening weekend. Yet, it only managed to amass $95.5 million, marking it as the fifth-best opening in Memorial Weekend history – the weekend leading up to American Memorial Day.
Although not a disaster by any means, it fell behind the likes of Top Gun: Maverick ($126.7 million), Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End ($114.7 million), X-Men: The Last Stand ($102.7 million), and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull ($100.1 million).
Among Disney’s live-action remakes, The Little Mermaid secured the fifth spot, surpassing Aladdin ($91.5 million) and The Witch ($69.4 million), but trailing behind The Jungle Book ($103.3 million) and Alice in Wonderland ($116.1 million). It was nowhere near challenging the staggering results of The Lion King ($191.8 million) or Beauty and the Beast ($174.8 million).
An Unexpected Undertow in Global Markets
While The Little Mermaid was expected to make a significant splash in international markets, it only garnered a modest $52.3 million over the opening weekend. The total gross revenue for the first week, considering an early Wednesday release in some countries, amounted to $68.3 million.
The film’s performance was particularly dismal in China, with a disappointing revenue of just $2.6 million, relegating it to the fifth spot in the country’s box office list. Similarly, in South Korea, the movie earned a meager $2.8 million. The Little Mermaid found slightly more favor in Latin America and Europe, with Mexico ($8.5 million), the UK ($6.3 million), and Italy ($4.7 million) leading the pack.
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The Tidal Wave of Criticism
Apart from grappling with lower-than-anticipated revenues, The Little Mermaid is also being flooded with negative reviews on various movie websites. Intriguingly, this wave of criticism is not confined to American platforms but extends to foreign sites in France, Germany, and Korea.
For instance, IMDb had to employ alternative methods for calculating ratings to prevent ‘rating trolls’ from purposefully downgrading the movie’s score. Despite these measures, the film averages a middling 7/10 score out of 25,000 ratings, with more than 40% of them being 1/10.
Conversely, on Rotten Tomatoes, The Little Mermaid has a 95% rating among verified users but falls to a 56% average when considering all users.
As Disney navigates these choppy waters, it remains to be seen if The Little Mermaid will be able to overcome the barrage of negativity and ride the wave to box-office success.
