Despite its engaging live-action reinterpretation, The Little Mermaid (2023) might be a financial disappointment for Disney, as it unexpectedly needs help to outpace the domestic earnings of its live-action counterpart. The movie bears the weight of significant expectations as it attempts to draw large audiences and attain commendable box office returns. The remarkable successes of its live-action predecessors and current cinema attendance trends loom large over The Little Mermaid, even as its enormous $250 million production cost puts additional pressure on its progress.
Nonetheless, The Little Mermaid excels in many areas, enhancing certain aspects of other live-action adaptations and the original animated version. The film, undeniably entertaining and creative, has surpassed the $500 million threshold at the international box office. Yet, its challenges eclipse its merits, placing the movie far behind other Disney live-action box office triumphs. The Little Mermaid’s global earnings and its predicted final gross fall short of the domestic take of a single live-action film.
The Little Mermaid’s Global Box Office Unable to Surpass The Lion King’s Domestic Revenue
The Little Mermaid has just crossed the $500 million milestone. As the movie approaches the end of its fifth week in theatres, forecasters predict that The Little Mermaid may only yield about $525 million globally. By comparison, The Lion King (2019) outperformed that figure domestically with $543 million.
The Lion King and other Disney live-action remakes have set a billion-dollar standard, with The Lion King grossing $1.66 billion globally and Aladdin (2019) and The Jungle Book (2016) approaching or exceeding the billion-dollar threshold. If these final projections for The Little Mermaid are accurate, the eagerly awaited adaptation will fail to join Disney’s live-action billion-dollar club despite massive promotion and advertising. This shortcoming is made more conspicuous, given it must be within The Lion King’s superior domestic results.
The Dismal Box Office Performance of The Little Mermaid: An Analysis
The Little Mermaid remake was released amid significant anticipation. The film leveraged Halle Bailey’s remarkable talent as Ariel and teased audiences with glimpses of a reimagined, realistic underwater realm. Yet, as the numbers suggest, The Little Mermaid needed to sustain momentum between production and release. The reasons for The Little Mermaid’s box office downturn are diverse and unexpected.
Disney may have overvalued The Little Mermaid’s appeal, with its more romantic plot perhaps not resonating with as broad an audience as The Lion King, Aladdin, and The Jungle Book. Additionally, early previews of The Little Mermaid’s underwater scenes could have exhibited the expected Disney vibrancy. Coupled with an unwarranted backlash against Bailey’s casting, these factors have made international returns considerably lower than other Disney princess narratives such as Beauty and the Beast.
Will The Little Mermaid Be A Box Office Flop? The Figures Needed to Break Even
Disney’s high hopes for The Little Mermaid led to substantial production costs of $250 million, rendering the film’s weak box office performance an alarming indicator for breaking even. By most accounts, The Little Mermaid is treading dangerous waters. If it continues its projected path of garnering around $525 million, it will fall short of breaking even, marking it as a box office letdown for Disney.
To break even, The Little Mermaid would need to gross nearly $560 million globally (resulting in an approximate net profit of $71 million before participation and residuals). This target seems particularly challenging as most of its earnings have already come from domestic audiences. It now needs
While The Little Mermaid’s live-action rendition managed to charm audiences with its creative reimagination of a classic tale, the film’s struggle at the box office indicates a mismatch between Disney’s high expectations and audience response. If projections hold, the film will not only fail to join the ranks of Disney’s live-action billion-dollar club but will also significantly trail behind The Lion King’s domestic earnings. This demonstrates that while the allure of nostalgia and grand production budgets may serve as a draw, relatable storylines and faithful execution are the determining factors of box office success.
