The Little Mermaid's box office suffered a big drop in its second weekend of release, and it puts the movie in bad company with other Disney live-action remakes. 2023's The Little Mermaid arrived as the latest example of Disney using its beloved animated movies as the basis for new live-action reimaginings. The studio found plenty of success with this concept over the last decade, turning classic animated movies like The Lion King, Beauty and the Beast, and Aladdin into billion-dollar box office hits. The Little Mermaid is similarly highly revered and was viewed as potentially being able to reach similar financial heights.
All Disney live-action remakes are inevitably compared against each other, as well as the original animated movies that they are based on, and the latest starring Halle Bailey as Ariel is no different. Everything from The Little Mermaid's Rotten Tomatoes score and box office opening weekend have been compared to Disney's other remakes. While both proved to be quite impressive, the movie's continued success in theaters has become a bit more difficult. Thanks to the crowded summer movie season and a potentially front-loaded opening, The Little Mermaid's box office now draws horrible comparisons for Disney remakes after its second weekend.
The Little Mermaid Dropped 56.7% At The Box Office In Its 2nd Weekend
Following the movie's strong opening, The Little Mermaid's second weekend at the box office did not go as well. The movie originally made $95.5 million in its 3-day opening weekend, but the Memorial Day 4-day weekend bolstered its total to $118.8M - the fifth-highest opening over the holiday in history. Unfortunately, The Little Mermaid's box office dropped substantially in its second weekend down to $41.3M. This represents a 56.7% drop for the Disney live-action remake's box office.
The Little Mermaid's box office drop in the second weekend came as Sony's animated movie Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse debuted and became the new major release for families. It is still impressive that the Disney remake was able to make over $40M in its second weekend and comfortably come in second place in the weekend, topping the new release The Boogeyman and remaining far ahead of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 and Fast X. It helped push The Little Mermaid's domestic box office total to $186.9M and worldwide total to $328.1M.
The Little Mermaid’s Drop Is 4th Worst For Disney Live-Action Remakes
The bad news for The Little Mermaid's box office drop is that it is the fourth worst for a Disney live-action remake. Its 56.7% decline is only better than Alice Through The Looking Glass (57.9%), The Lion King (60%), and Dumbo (60.4%). Of the 14 modern Disney live-action remakes that received theatrical releases, Aladdin (53.2%) and Maleficent (50.6%) are the only other movies that dropped more than 50% in their second weekends. The Little Mermaid's second-weekend drop could be more concerning, though, because it puts the movie in the same realm as two of Disney's bigger box office bombs from the remake trend.
Looking at the three Disney remakes to have box office drops similarly big as The Little Mermaid, there is no perfect comparison to it. Alice Through The Looking Glass was a sequel to a billion-dollar hit that immediately bombed and never found an audience. Dumbo opened to barely more than The Little Mermaid's second weekend and is among Disney's lowest-grossing live-action remakes. The Lion King is arguably the best comp for The Little Mermaid, but the former's success received a huge boost from a massive international appeal, something the latter has not proven to have so far.
The Little Mermaid Can Still Be A Box Office Hit Despite Big Drop
Despite The Little Mermaid's box office drop in its second weekend, there is still a chance that the movie will be a financial hit for Disney when everything is said and done. The movie has earned positive reviews and has been adored by audiences on Rotten Tomatoes. This is something that Alice Through The Looking Glass, Dumbo, and The Lion King could not claim. The first two earned negative reviews from critics and audiences, while critics and audiences were split on the latter. While there is separation in terms of how much critics and audiences enjoyed The Little Mermaid, the overall positive reactions should give the movie strong legs.
The Little Mermaid's budget is not small, but the movie is already on its way to becoming profitable for Disney. It could double its budget at the box office by the time its second full week of release concludes, which will put it in range of being a success as the third weekend begins. The continued enjoyment of audiences, an ability to remain the biggest release for young girls for weeks to come, and school now being over could The Little Mermaid's box office drops will be much smaller from here on out, allowing it to avoid being viewed as a flop.