The Little Mermaid
May 26, 2023
Walt Disney Pictures’ live-action remake of The Little Mermaid looks to pour water on last weekend’s box office champ, Universal Pictures’ speeding cars actioner Fast X, following a strong $10 million in special Thursday sneak-screening ticket sales.
The movie, starring newcomer Halle Bailey as the title character Ariel, King Triton’s youngest daughter, is based on the studios’ 1989 animated movie of the same name that featured the voice of Jodi Benson as Ariel and is generally considered the beginning of the “Disney Renaissance,” a period of success for the animated studio that lasted well into the 1990s.
Bailey brings a life-like portrayal to Ariel in the reported $250 million production that co-stars Melissa McCarthy and Javier Bardem, among others. The movie is projected to generate upwards of $115 million in revenue across the five-day Memorial Day holiday weekend — well-ahead of an estimated $26 million in ticket sales for Fast X in its sophomore weekend, according to projections from Box Office Pro.
Fast X has already pushed the Vin Diesel-led “Fast & Furious” franchise past $7 billion in collective box office since The Fast and the Furious debuted in 2001.
Rounding out the top box office hitters over the weekend include Disney/Marvel Studios’ Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 with another $19 million in projected ticket sales, and Universal Pictures’ unstoppable animated hit The Super Mario Bros. Movie ($6 million), which remains the No. 1 theatrical release in 2023 with more than $1.25 billion in global revenue.
Other new weekend releases include Lionsgate’s About My Father, Sony Pictures’ The Machine and Open Road Films Kandahar.
About My Father, starring Sebastian Mansicalco and Robert De Niro, took in an estimated $285,000 during preview screenings on Thursday, ahead of its debut today in 2,464 locations across North America. Industry tracking is pointing to a four-day weekend in the $5 million range, according to Lionsgate.