Live-action Little Mermaid makes waves, opens at No. 1 at North American box office
LOS ANGELES – Disney’s live-action version of The Little Mermaid netted the top spot at North American box offices on its opening weekend, over the United States’ Memorial Day holiday, industry watcher Exhibitor Relations reported on Sunday.
The remake of the 1989 animated tale of an underwater princess who gives up her voice in pursuit of true love on land, starring American pop singer Halle Bailey and actress Melissa McCarthy, chalked up US$117.5 million (S$159 million) at US and Canadian box offices and another US$68 million internationally, Exhibitor Relations said.
Despite the No. 1 spot, analyst David Gross pointed out that the aquatic adventure’s debut does not represent the biggest opening weekend for a live-action Disney adaptation.
He said 2019’s The Lion King and 2017’s Beauty And The Beast earned US$191.8 million and US$174.8 million respectively, over their opening weekends.
“During the last dozen years, Disney has built live-action remakes into a powerhouse phenomenon,” he wrote in the FranchiseRe newsletter.
Still, Ariel and friends were able to bump last week’s No. 1 feature, Fast X, down to a distant No. 2, with Universal’s action film pulling in only US$29.5 million in the Friday to Monday period.
That is less than half of what the movie made during its opening weekend the previous week. The film is part of the Fast & Furious franchise starring American actor Vin Diesel.
Disney’s Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3 and Universal’s The Super Mario Bros Movie were also knocked down one spot each from the previous weekend to take third and fourth places, making US$25.3 million and US$7.7 million.
In fifth place was Sony’s new action comedy The Machine, which earned US$5.8 million and is based on US comedian Bert Kreischer’s stand-up routine.
Rounding out the top 10 were About My Father (US$5.3 million), Kandahar (US$3 million), You Hurt My Feelings (US$1.8 million), Evil Dead Rise (US$1.2 million) and Book Club: The Next Chapter (US$1.2 million). - AFP
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