‘The Little Mermaid’ Remake Officially Surpasses the Original 1989 Animated Film

On November 17, 1989, Walt Disney Pictures released a little mermaid into wild, uncharted waters, and Disney fans welcomed her with open arms. ​​

Directed by John Musker and Ron Clements with an original score by Alan Menken and the ethereal vocals of Jodi Benson as Ariel, The Little Mermaid made back five times its $40 million budget with a lifetime box office gross of $211 million.

Although The Little Mermaid was eclipsed by Beauty and the Beast (1991) and Aladdin (1992) in box office numbers, it was a certified success in Walt Disney’s world. Princess Ariel was inducted into the unofficial Disney Princess Hall of Fame, with miniature mermaids swarming Disney Parks and Halloween parades for decades.

Big Fins to Fill

With lukewarm reactions to Disney’s live-action remakes of classic Disney films, Disney’s motion to recreate The Little Mermaid was bold. Even riskier was director Rob Marshall’s decision to cast Halle Bailey—a young black actress and singer—as Ariel. To win over audiences who resented the choice for an all-new Ariel, the film set a massive $250 million budget, marketing aside.

That turned up the pressure from a financial standpoint, and the live-action remake already had big fins to fill. In its first week, The Little Mermaid remake achieved a significant milestone, officially surpassing the 1989 original film at the box office.

That said, The Little Mermaid has a long way to swim before it reaches its projected numbers domestically and globally. It was making $117 million during its opening weekend across four days despite the projected $125 million from its $38 million opening-day debut.

Where the film flopped was on a global scale. Despite a forecasted $80 million international debut, The Little Mermaid fell short by about $12 million. Reports that audiences in China and South Korea haven’t been receptive to Bailey’s portrayal of Ariel as a black woman have been the culprit for the film tanking worldwide.

Oceans Away from One Billion

While Disney’s live-action remakes have been heavily criticized for the animated magic getting lost in tech-heavy CGI effects, Disney fans still head to theaters to see them. With the multigenerational fandom of the source material, some of the live-action remakes have been relegated to streaming-only films, but others have cracked $1 billion at the box office.

Four movies—Aladdin, Alice in Wonderland, Beauty and the Beast, and The Lion King—have been billion-dollar box office hits in the recent succession of Disney’s live-action remakes. Standing at $326 million at present, The Little Mermaid likely won’t touch the billion-dollar surface.

Despite a respectable 67% score on Rotten Tomatoes, The Little Mermaid is far from making back its hefty budget and even further from Disney’s top live-action remakes. That said, its predecessor wasn’t the top producer on the box office block, either.

Fans can determine whether or not Disney magic is present in The Little Mermaid remake starring Halle Bailey as Ariel, Jonah Hauer-King as Prince Eric, Jacob Tremblay as Flounder, Daveed Diggs as Sebastian, Awkwafina as Scuttle, Melissa McCarthy as Ursula, and Javier Bardem as King Triton in theaters now.