Disney’s The Little Mermaid is gearing up for a big box office debut over Memorial Day Weekend, with projections stating the film will rake in a hefty $100 million USD from 4,300 theaters across North America in its first three days. The movie is expected to climb to between $120 million USD and $125 million USD by the holiday on Monday, according to Variety.
If the film manages to meet expectations, it will become the fourth movie to reach the $100 million USD threshold in its debut weekend this year. Notably, The Little Mermaid will become the third film from Disney to do so, following Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 ($118 million USD) and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania ($106 million USD). The Super Mario Bros. Movie currently holds this year’s highest opening figures at $146 million USD.
The Little Mermaid‘s budget tallied to nearly $250 million USD, thanks to additional costs due to COVID-related delays. The film will need to harness global appeal in order to earn a profit. The movie is expected to rake in $80 million USD from key international markets in its opening weekend.
The movie, which marks Disney’s latest live-action adaptation following classics including The Lion King, Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin, stars Halle Bailey as Ariel. Joining her are Jonah Hauer-King as Prince Eric, Melissa McCarthy as Ursula, Javier Bardem as King Triton, Art Malik as Grimsby, Noma Dumezweni as Queen Selina, Daveed Diggs as Sebastian, Jacob Tremblay as Flounder and Awkwafina as Scuttle.
The Little Mermaid premieres on May 26. Revisit the official trailer here.
Elsewhere, Natalie Portman is open to returning to Star Wars as Padmé.
