By Memorial Day weekend used to be a huge opportunity for films to make money at the box office, but times have changed since COVID. While this past weekend is hardly what you’d call terrible, The Little Mermaid opening to $117.5 million isn’t exactly setting the world on fire. While Disney’s latest live-action remake did pretty decent domestically, overseas it hardly made a dent and has basically been completely ignored in China. That doesn’t bode well for the long-term health of the film.
Fast X came in second domestically with an additional $23 million while in China, it generated another $17.6 million. The Little Mermaid, on the other hand, came in fifth in China and managed a pitiful $2.5 million. Internationally speaking, Disney’s retelling brought in $68.3 million for a total gross of $185.8 million, but that isn’t even close to breaking even. The reported budget for Ariel’s reimagining is about $250 million, so the film will need to make at least $400 million to even be profitable.
As for the rest of the top ten, it’s about what you’d expect. The Super Mario Bros. Movie and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 are still doing quite well while the other spots are taken up by new releases. This is the first weekend where John Wick: Chapter 4 did not crack the top 10, but the film is almost two months old at this point.
Here is how the top 10 breaks down domestically:
- The Little Mermaid – $117.5 million
- Fast X – $23 million
- Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 – $19.9 million
- The Super Mario Bros. Movie – $6.2 million
- The Machine – $4.9 million
- About My Father – $4.2 million
- Kandahar – $2.4 million
- You Hurt My Feelings – $1.3 million
- Evil Dead Rise – $1 million
- Book Club: The Next Chapter – $920,000
