Movies
‘The Little Mermaid’ tops Memorial Day Weekend box office
‘The Little Mermaid’ topped the domestic box office this weekend, finishing well ahead of ‘Fast X’.
Moviegoers hit the theaters in droves over the Memorial Day weekend, with Disney’s ‘The Little Mermaid’ topping the domestic box office.
The 1988 live-action remake of the animated classic earned $117.5 million over the four-day holiday weekend.
That makes it the fifth highest Memorial Day debut, with last year’s ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ setting the new record bay making $160.5 million during its launch.
Although the return is quite the lofty figure for the Disney film, at one point over the weekend there were suggestions it could even surpass the $120 million mark. However, ticket sales slowed down slightly, preventing the film from reaching that figure.
However, the film will have to carry its momentum into the following weeks if Disney wants to make a profit. The film carries a production budget of $250 million, and given the film isn’t as beloved internationally as it is in the USA, it will be interesting to see how things play out in the future.
So far the film has earned $68.1 million from more than 51 markets, including countries like France, the U.K., Mexico, Australia, Brazil and South Korea, which is somewhat underwhelming.
The film is Disney’s latest attempt to reboot one of its popular titles and make it into a live action film. Along with ‘The Little Mermaid’, the company has done that with ‘Aladdin’, ‘Beauty and the Beast’ and the ‘The Lion King’.
That trend will continue, with Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson in charge of making a remake of ‘The Aristocrats’.
Elsewhere at the box office
While ‘The Little Mermaid’ topped the domestic box office, ‘Fast X’ came in second, earning $28.7 million over the weekend.
The film has underperformed domestically, earning just $112.6 million after two weeks. However, it has earned over $400 million overseas, helping it cross the $500 million mark and making it the third highest-grossing film of 2023.
‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.3′ took third place with $26.1 million, while ‘The Super Mario Bros. Movie’ and ‘The Machine’ rounded out the top five with $8.3 million and $6 million respectively.