The Little Mermaid Swims to Big Box Office Opening Night

Disney’s live-action reimagining of The Little Mermaid is headed for a big box office haul in its opening weekend, opening with over $10 million in its Thursday night previews, with an additional $850,000 in special Wednesday screenings. Now, $11 million or so may not be as huge as the preview night hauls for some big superhero movies and the like, but it’s worth noting that since a lot of the movie’s target audience is children, preview nights tend to be a bit lower, since they happen on a school night. The movie scored the seventh-highest preview night haul ever for a G- or PG-rated movie.

The Little Mermaid is projected to open with $100 million this holiday weekend. With Memorial Day on Monday, the film is expected to have a four-day haul between $120 million and $125 million. Thursday preview nights get rolled into Friday numbers. In 2019, Disney’s Aladdin got $7 million in previews and went on to earn a little over $1 billion globally.

Here’s the official synopsis, per Disney: The Little Mermaid, visionary filmmaker Rob Marshall’s live-action reimagining of the studio’s Oscar-winning animated musical classic, opens exclusively in theaters nationwide May 26, 2023. 

The Little Mermaid is the beloved story of Ariel, a beautiful and spirited young mermaid with a thirst for adventure. The youngest of King Triton’s daughters, and the most defiant, Ariel longs to find out more about the world beyond the sea, and while visiting the surface, falls for the dashing Prince Eric. While mermaids are forbidden to interact with humans, Ariel must follow her heart. She makes a deal with the evil sea witch, Ursula, which gives her a chance to experience life on land, but ultimately places her life – and her father’s crown – in jeopardy. 

The film stars singer and actress Halle Bailey (grown-ish) as Ariel; Tony Award® winner Daveed Diggs (Hamilton, Snowpiercer) as the voice of Sebastian; Jacob Tremblay (Luca, Room) as the voice of Flounder; Awkwafina (Raya and the Last Dragon) as the voice of Scuttle; Jonah Hauer-King (A Dog’s Way Home) as Prince Eric; Art Malik (Homeland) as Sir Grimsby; Noma Dumezweni (Mary Poppins Returns) as Queen Selina; with Oscar® winner Javier Bardem (No Country for Old Men, Being the Ricardos) as King Triton; and two-time Academy Award® nominee Melissa McCarthy (Can You Ever Forgive Me?, Bridesmaids) as Ursula.

The Little Mermaid is directed by Oscar® nominee Rob Marshall (“Chicago,” “Mary Poppins Returns”), and written by two-time Oscar nominee David Magee (Life of Pi, Finding Neverland), with a live-action story adaptation by David Magee, Rob Marshall, and two-time Emmy winner John DeLuca (Tony Bennett: An American Classic), based on the short story by Hans Christian Andersen, and the Disney animated film by Ron Clements and John Musker. The film is produced by two-time Emmy® winner Marc Platt (Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert, Grease Live!), three-time Tony Award® winner Lin-Manuel Miranda (Hamilton, In the Heights), Rob Marshall, and John DeLuca, with Jeffrey Silver (The Lion King) serving as executive producer. The score is by multiple Academy Award® winner Alan Menken (Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin), who won two Oscars® for the music in the animated version of The Little Mermaid, with music supervised and produced by Mike Higham (Mary Poppins Returns, Into the Woods). Music is by Alan Menken, lyrics are by Howard Ashman and new lyrics are by Lin-Manuel Miranda. 

The Little Mermaid is in theaters now.