LOS ANGELES (AP) 鈥� 鈥� 鈥� made moviegoers want to be under the sea on Memorial Day weekend.
Disney's live-action remake of its 1989 animated classic easily outswam the competition, bringing in $95.5 million on 4,320 screens in North America, according to studio estimates Sunday.
And Disney estimates the film starring Halle Bailey as the titular mermaid Ariel and Melissa McCarthy as her sea witch nemesis Ursula will reach $117.5 million by the time the holiday is over. It ranks as the fifth biggest Memorial Day weekend opening ever.
It displaces 鈥淔ast X鈥� in the top spot. The 10th installment in the 鈥淔ast and Furious鈥� franchise starring Vin Diesel has lagged behind more recent releases in the series, bringing in $23 million domestically for a two-week total of $108 million for Universal Pictures.
In its fourth weekend, Disney and Marvel's 鈥� 鈥� made an estimated $20 million in North America to take third place. It's now made $299 million domestically.
The performance of 鈥淭he Little Mermaid鈥� represents something of a bounce-back for Disney's animated-to-live-action remakes, and makes it likely they will keep coming indefinitely. Poor reception and the pandemic had some recent reboots either performing poorly or skipping theatrical releases for Disney +, including 鈥淒umbo,鈥� 鈥淢ulan鈥� and 鈥淧inocchio."
鈥淚t works as long as the movies deliver,鈥� said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for Comscore. 鈥淚t's great for Disney to be able to go to their archive by reviving these titles that started off as huge hits in the animated realm.鈥�
The opening puts it in the top tier of Disney's remakes, with a similar performance to 2019's 鈥淎laddin," though it was well short of 2017's 鈥淏eauty and the Beast,鈥� which opened to more than $170 million, and 2019's 鈥淭he Lion King,鈥� which brought in more than $190 million in its first weekend.
Audiences thought it delivered. The film had an A CinemaScore, and according to exit polling had more ticket buyers between ages 25 and 34 than children, suggesting nostalgic adults were essential.
鈥淭he multi generational component of this cannot be overstated," Dergarabedian said.
Critics were more lukewarm. The movie is currently at 67% on Rotten Tomatoes. In her review, Lindsey Bahr of The Associated Press called it 鈥渁 somewhat drab undertaking with sparks of bioluminescence鈥� that like too many of the Disney remakes 鈥減rioritized nostalgia and familiarity over compelling visual storytelling.鈥�
She said Bailey, half of the sister R&B duo Chloe x Halle, still shone with a 鈥渓ovely presence鈥� and 鈥渟uperb voice."
Directed by Rob Marshall with a reported budget of $250 million before marketing, 鈥淭he Little Mermaid鈥� tells the story of a yearning, wayward daughter who cuts a devil's deal to swap her fins for a pair of legs. It features the songs from Alan Menken and Howard Ashman, including 鈥淧art of Your World" and 鈥淯nder the Sea,鈥� that helped the original film spark a Disney animation renaissance in the 1990s.
Fourth place went to Universal's 鈥淭he Super Mario Bros. Movie,鈥� which keeps reaching new levels in its eighth weekend. Now available to rent on VOD, it still earned $6.3 million in theatres. Its cumulative total of $559 million makes Mario and Luigi the year's biggest earners so far.
Comics couldn't stand up to Ariel as the week's other new releases sank.
鈥淭he Machine," an action comedy starring stand鈥攗p comedian Bert Kreischer, finished fifth with $4.9 million domestically. And " ," the broad comedy starring stand-up Sebastian Maniscalco and Robert De Niro, was sixth with $4.3 million.
It's not clear whether 鈥淭he Little Mermaid鈥� will have legs 鈥� or fins 鈥� going forward. Next week brings the release of animated 鈥淪pider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse,鈥� with 鈥淭ransformers: Rise of the Beasts鈥� arriving the following week.
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.
1. 鈥淭he Little Mermaid,鈥� $95.5 million.
2. 鈥淔ast X,鈥� $23 million.
3. 鈥淕uardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3,鈥� $20 million.
4. 鈥淭he Super Mario Bros. Movie,鈥� $6.3 million.
5. 鈥淭he Machine,鈥� $4.9 million.
6. 鈥淎bout My Father," $4.3 million.
7. 鈥淜andahar,鈥� $2.4 million.
8. 鈥淵ou Hurt My Feelings,鈥� 1.4 million.
9. 鈥淓vil Dead Rise,鈥� $1 million.
10. 鈥淏ook Club, The Next Chapter,鈥� $920, 000.
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